Harry Potter and the Elemental's Power
by Sage Ra
Summary: A story about a Harry Potter possessing the Elder Wand, the power of an Element and a prophecy balancing his fate.
1. Prologue

_A/N: Reposting my old completed Stories back on FFN. Enjoy._

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 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Harry Potter.

 **Prologue**

 **10th August, 1980**

Somewhere in England in a house which no one knew about and couldn't be found even if they knew about it, a man was working diligently in his very own personal laboratory concocting a potion and humming quietly. He was about 5'10'', had brown eyes and dirty black hair which fell just below his shoulders. If one had to guess his age, they'd say he was around thirty years old. But it was his eyes that were most striking; they seemed to exude boundless knowledge and wisdom. Any person who dared to call themselves an intellectual wouldn't even measure up to the knowledge this man's mind held.

His laboratory was a circular one surrounded by doors at regular intervals. In the centre of the room was a five level book shelf which held a countless vials filled with potions instead of books. It was impossible for there to be that many vials if it weren't for the wonders of magic.

On the right side of the shelf, the man stood, carefully adding ingredients into his potion and on the left side were a number of odd looking instruments. They were bent and twisted into unrecognizable shapes and some had wires sticking out of them like metallic hairs.

Through the door behind the man, piles of books were spilling out chaotically. Some looked positively ancient and some no more than a few days old.

But the most striking object in the room was a small cube. It was and carved out of a very rare stone known as the Onyx. The small artefact had a number of beautiful runes, in white, carved into it which gave it an even more exotic look then it already had. If one took a closer look, they'd clearly notice the pale blue aura surrounding it.

It was such a mesmerising object and yet it could be easily overlooked for it was carelessly lying under the large pile of books and would not be seen unless you knew where to look for it.

All of a sudden one of his instruments with the flat base and wires sticking out started vibrating. Out of the many thin wires two began to lengthen and start to glow. One was a fiery red and the other was purest white.

The man looked up startled and stirred his potion five times in an anti-clockwise direction and placed a static charm on it. He then moved over next to the instrument and prodded it twice with his wand causing the wires to entwine around each other before fading back to their normal metallic colour and shortening back to their original lengths.

"Interesting," the man muttered under his breath. "Fire and ice you say? I certainly never saw that coming. Well, I better tell Pen or she'll get mad. Better hide the potion before that. Wouldn't want her to cheat now would we."

He waved his wand and immediately the potion sunk into the floor, out of sight.

He took a deep breath and yelled, "PEN! Hey Pen, get down here!"

"What is it!?" came a muffled voice through the roof.

"I've got something interesting to show you!" he yelled again.

There was a moments silence while the man waited patiently.

Suddenly a woman fell through the ceiling like it wasn't there at all. She landed gracefully on her feet and gave the man an annoyed glare. She was about the same height as him, had waist length red hair and bluish green eyes which radiated the same sense of knowledge and power as his.

"What is it?" she said, "I was just about to finish you know."

"Sorry, sorry but this little baby showed me fire and ice," he said pointing to the instrument.

"Really!" she said suddenly looking deeply interested, "That's never happened before has it? Usually it's just one. What was it last time?"

"It was earth the last time Pen," he said with a chuckle.

"Fire is mine," she said suddenly. "You can have the water or ice or whatever but fire is mine."

"Sure, sure, fire will get along with you perfectly considering your personality."

She smacked him on back of his head and sat in his lap and muttered, "Idiot."

"So when do we bring them here?" she asked him.

"When the time is right," he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – The Boy Who Lived**

 **31st October, 1981**

Three mysterious people stood in the streets of Privet Drive, Surrey. The street lights were out and if they had been turned on, the sight of these three people would have certainly startled the residents in the area. One resembled a huge shaggy beast that stood over eight feet tall, the other was an old man who was wearing violet robes with half moons and blue stars printed on it. His beard was so long that he had tucked it twice into his belt and the third was a woman who wore the strictest of looks that could intimidate even adults.

These three were magical humans called witches and wizards and they were here for one purpose only.

"Do you have the boy Hagrid?" asked the old man who went by the name of Albus Dumbledore.

"Yes of course headmaster," replied Hagrid and carefully pulled out a tiny sleeping baby from the inside of his coat.

"So this is Harry Potter," whispered the strict looking witch. She looked at the child with affection and then slowly brushed her finger against a scar that stood out on his otherwise unblemished face. "Can't you get rid of that scar Albus," she asked.

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."

Dumbledore put Harry on the ground and pulled out his wand.

"Albus what are you doing?" asked McGonagall.

"Nothing much Minerva just a few warming charms and some for his own safety," he said calmly.

What Albus Dumbledore was actually doing was binding a part of Harry's magic so that the boy wouldn't do any dangerous accidental magic and cause any harm to his Muggle relatives considering the amount of power the boy had. He did not want Harry to get into serious trouble for something he didn't have any control over. The spell he was performing on Harry was highly illegal and dangerous if done wrong. But he had complete confidence in his abilities.

He waved his wand in complex patterns and started chanting under his breath. It sounded like gibberish to McGonagall. A few minutes passed since Albus had begun chanting and nothing seemed to be happening. He stopped chanting and placed his wand on Harry's forehead.

A second later a sphere of golden light began to glow around Harry and started growing larger and larger until the entire house and a few of the neighbouring houses were covered in the light.

Suddenly the light began to withdraw was sucked into little Harry Potter's body.

"There, it's done," he said looking a bit tired.

"What have you done? Warming charms definitely don't do that," she said looking suspicious.

"I just activated the wards that are going to keep him safe Minerva. The little display you just saw was just because of the nature of the wards. No harm can fall upon Harry as long as he lives with his blood relatives," he said.

"Oh right, sorry," she said looking embarrassed.

Dumbledore chuckled, "It's quite alright Minerva, I don't mind."

He then bent and picked Harry up, "Well Harry, time for you to join your new family," he said moving towards number 4 Privet Drive.

"Sir, could I say good bye to him?" asked Hagrid tears forming in his eyes.

"Of course Hagrid," said Dumbledore his eyes twinkling sympathetically and gave Harry to Hagrid.

"I'm going to miss you young Harry," he said wiping the tears from his eyes, "You be good and take care of yourself."

He handed Harry back to Dumbledore and burst out crying. McGonagall patted him on the back trying to comfort him.

Dumbledore meanwhile took Harry and placed him on the entrance to the house and pinned a letter to his blanket.

"Well we have no business being here, we might as well leave."

Hagrid and McGonagall nodded and just as quietly as they had arrived they left in the same manner except for Hagrid who had come on a flying motorcycle.

Dumbledore stood just stood there waiting for them both to go. As soon as they had left, he pulled his wand out again and waved it towards the house. A reddish blue light mixed with a little gold covered the house again before expanding out and simmering out of sight.

He then pulled out the silver put outer which he had used to turn the streets dark and clicked it once. Twelve balls of light whizzed out of the strange lighter and flew back to their respective lamp, reigniting the street to the bright orange that it was.

"Good luck Harry," he murmured and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.

The little child slept peacefully in the bread basket unaware of what fate had in store for him. He couldn't know that at this very moment wizards and witches all over the country were meeting in secret and holding up their glasses whispering, "To Harry Potter, the boy who lived."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – The Dream**

 **Five years later**

A boy with emerald green eyes, thick messy black hair, wearing broken spectacles and had a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, lay awake in the cupboard under staircase wondering how long it would be until he turned 6 years old.

He sighed and turned on his dirty mattress wondering if the Dursley's would give him a gift this year or would they even remember at all that it was his birthday. Last year Uncle Vernon had given him a smelly old sock and the year before that a hanger saying it was much more than he deserved.

Just thinking about them made him scowl and eyes darken in anger. He wondered all the time as to what could he have possibly done to deserve such treatment? He knew it was not normal because he had seen the way they behaved with Dudley and he had seen how other parents show their children so much affection. He tired to be good and do well at school but all it ever resulted in was scorn and humiliation.

Was it because funny things happened when he was angry or scared? Or was it because they just hated him? But the bottom line was that he was stuck in this hell because his parents had been stupid enough to get drunk and die in a car crash. At least that's what they told him when he asked about his parents, but somehow... somehow he knew that they were lying.

Sometimes he would try to remember something about them but all he could remember was a flash of green light and intense pain on his forehead, right where his scar was.

A loud dong from the clock outside in the living room startled Harry and he realized that he had turned 6 years old!

He felt a spider moving on his arm and quickly smacked it with his other hand ending its existence wishing that he could do the same to his dear Uncle Vernon as a birthday gift. It would only be fair after all the pain he had to go through for as long as he could remember.

Yes, that's the only thing that described his life until today, pain. The Dursley's never beat him badly but that didn't stop them from slapping him or insulting him whenever they felt like it. Occasionally when his uncle was in a really bad mood, he'd be punched in the face or get hit by a belt or even choked until his uncle realized that he could die if he didn't let go. The result was an overly mature 6 year old who never found a reason to smile.

He was hit if he didn't complete his chores on time. He was back handed if he got a better grade than his fat cousin, he was punished if anybody asked the Dursley's about him. He was like the punching bag of the family whose only purpose was to be an outlet of frustration for the Dursley's.

He whispered Happy Birthday to himself and turned on his side and closed his eyes. Soon he was fast asleep dreaming about flying motor cycles, annoying dogs and antlers that seemed to be prancing about riotously.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Tap tap tap. Tap tap TAP TAP!

"BOY! Wake up! You have work to do... UP!" screeched his Aunt Petunia.

Harry shot up from his bed with his heart pounding painfully.

What the hell was that? He thought.

He had the weirdest dream and it had all seemed so real! He tried to remember what had happened and could vaguely remember seeing some people taking to him, then there was that flash of green light and... …and a spine shivering voice laughing out loud in his head!

He heard his Aunt scream and bang on his cupboard door again.

Ignoring the noise Harry slowly got up with a groan as his head felt like someone had just dropped a bag of stones on it. Or maybe Dudley had just whacked him with his new cricket bat while he was still asleep and he hadn't realized it.

He quickly went upstairs to the bathroom, washed up and got dressed. He then rushed downstairs before his Aunt could complain about his lateness again and made his way to the kitchen with haste to start cooking breakfast for the Dursley's which was difficult for him seeing that his head barely reached the kitchen counter.

"Use the chair you dumb boy," snapped Petunia watching him struggle with irritation.

"Dudley broke it Aunt Petunia."

"Don't lie to me you miserable toe rag!" she said angrily and gave him a sharp slap.

Harry held his tears and anger inside feeling his cheek sting.

"There's no chair aunt Petunia," he said again.

She pursed her lips in anger. "Well go to your Uncle then. He'll give you your chores for the day."

Harry nodded obediently and headed to the dining table where his Uncle was reading the newspaper and Dudley was wolfing down yesterday's leftovers.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia asked you to tell me my chores for the day."

"Mow the lawn, remove the weeds and start painting the shed," Vernon grunted, without removing his eyes from the sports section.

"Yes uncle Vernon." Harry replied in a monotonous voice as Petunia came in and laid the breakfast on the table.

Harry stared at his plate in disgust but did not complain. All he had was a quarter slice of ham and a piece of bread.

He had barely finished half his toast when Dudley began whining from the other end.

"Dad I'm not full," whined his cousin from the other end of the table whose plate looked like it was never even filled with food a minute ago.

"Give your food to Dudley boy," Vernon said.

"But I'm hungry!" cried Harry, not believing the injustice of the situation even though it was an everyday situation.

"YOU WILL GIVE YOUR FOOD TO DUDLEY OR BE LOCKED IN YOUR CUPBOARD FOR 3 DAYS WITHOUT FOOD," yelled Vernon. "Now get out and wash the car too!"

Fuming he pushed his plate towards Dudley and left the room. Slowly and angrily he went to the accursed garden. He could still feel his stomach growling for food, but there was nothing he could do about it. Still there was nothing new about this treatment he received from them. For as long as he could remember they had always he had to always fight for his food or going to the bathroom or bathing in hot water, but no they didn't care about him. Even if he died they wouldn't even realize it until they needed something from him.

He slowly went to the garage and picked up the tools required and started doing his work.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was noon when he stretched himself on the grass, his stomach aching for food and his head pounding because of the heat and humidity. He heard his aunt yelling for him to come inside for lunch.

He ran in quickly washed his hands and face and sat for lunch. He ate his pathetic excuse of a lunch and was about to leave the house to go and sit in the playground when his uncle called him back. "Go and mow the lawn. I want the grass should be completely even or it will be a week in the cupboard!"

Harry groaned in protest, but quickly shut up and left the room when he saw his aunt glaring at him. "Honestly she looks like a shrivelled up worm when she does that. Can't they at least give me a day off without having to work or wash that pigs clothes or something or the other! They always come up with something for me to do. Who makes a boy work on their birthday anyway", he thought bitterly.

3 hours later he was sitting on the swing in the playground having finished all his chores for the day and thinking about what to do next. It was an alright day for once, without being too starved or back handed by Uncle Vernon.

He often sat alone in the playground when it wasn't occupied by Dudley and his group of friends. He didn't have any friends as everyone just saw him as the freak of Privet drive and which sensible parent would allow their child to mix with a freak?

Harry thought about what his latest dream was all about and sat trying to remember what had happened. It had started well enough but turned scary and weird before he woke up. At first there were three men standing and talking and laughing and one of them looked just like him. He wondered if that was his father. He remembered that they were talking about him and him growing to be a strong… something. Then there was something about a wizard? How absurd, he thought. And then she came, a beautiful woman with red hair yelling at the men around and telling them to get out. He heard one of the men call the other Padfoot or something like that.

Then the dream changed and all he could hear was a woman screaming for help and a high pitched cruel laughter and lots of green light and then he saw the most horrible and disgusting face he had ever seen. It was scary and terrifying. The face pointed some stick at him and said something and after that all he could remember was the green light again and an intense pain in his forehead, exactly where his unusual scar was.

Sighing he got up still deep in thought and started walking back to the house.

But then the worst happened. He heard someone shouting out, "Hey freak!" It was one of Dudley's friends.

"What you doing outside your cupboard four eyes!" his cousin yelled.

"Go away Dudley, I'm not in the mood right now," Harry said bravely.

"Aww, poor Harrykins is feeling sad..." mocked one of Dudley's friend's Julian and they all started laughing.

"Well why don't we play Harry hunting!" called out another. "YEAH!" they all yelled and started running after Harry.

Harry's heart sank and suddenly he was running for all he was worth, dreams all forgotten..., all he thought right now was how to get away from Dudley's gang and save himself before he got beaten up by them again.

Suddenly he tripped over an over grown plant and fell flat on his face. "Shit," was all that crossed his mind before Dudley's gang caught up with him. They all started kicking him and punching him while laughing out loud and yelling insults at him.

Harry felt like his body was literally on fire and all he wanted was for it to stop. He prayed that someone would come and stop them but nobody came.

He saw the couple from number 7 pass by and he looked at them with pleading eyes but they just looked at him disdainfully and hurried past him. Harry felt anger rush through his body and felt enraged. He saw Dudley's leg come up towards his face and he closed his eyes and raised his hands in an attempt to catch his cousins leg and drop him while also expecting pain if he missed.

But the pain never came.

When he opened his eyes he saw Dudley surrounded by his friends moaning against the wall.

"What the hell did you do to him you freak! You're so dead now," yelled Piers Polkiss. "Come on gang let's take Dudley back home," said another and they slowly vanished from sight walking towards number 4 Privet drive.

Meanwhile Harry's mind was running at a million miles a second. "Oh no, something weird happened again! Should I go back or not? Uncle Vernon is going to kill me!" Harry said to himself shivering in pain and fear. "Oh no, oh no, why does this happen to me! I hate you Dudley!"

He ran back to the park and sat there trying to calm himself and ignore the pain coursing through his bruised and battered body. "Ok calm down Harry, just calm down. You're alright, you're still alive calm down now," he thought to himself. "Now think, what exactly happened. Okay first I fell flat on my face and Dudley and gang started beating me. Then I saw Dudley leg come towards my face and that's when it happened" he said out aloud.

Now that he was calm he realized that as Dudley's leg came towards him he felt a slight tingling starting from his abdomen and spreading throughout his body and then Dudley went flying back. What was that tingling he thought? Come to think of it, every time something unnatural happened around him he always felt a tingling in his gut. "Is it this tingling that causes these things" he asked himself.

Then he remembered his dream from last night and suddenly the words said in the dream became clear. "He'll grow up to be a powerful and strong wizard Padfoot."

That's what the man who looked like him had said! Was that was this tingling was? Did all these things happen to him because he was a wizard? Could he do magic!

"Wait, wait. What are you saying! Magic is not real. Didn't aunt Petunia tell you that!" he thought to himself. "But since when has she ever told you the truth," he asked himself again. "For all you know she might have not wanted me to know that I can do real magic and my parents might not have been drunks after all!"

Harry was trembling with excitement at this revelation and resolved to find a way to use this new found power of his.

Suddenly all the excitement he felt drained out of him and he was filled with fear. He knew he couldn't tell his aunt and uncle what he had just realized and he knew he was going to be punished for what he did to Dudley. He knew that he was going to suffer in the cupboard for a lot of time and be starved for a few days and if he was lucky his Uncle wouldn't beat the shit out of him, but since when has luck been on his side.

Slowly he walked back to the house mentally preparing for what was to come.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

He knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it. The door was opened by his aunt and when she saw who it was, she quickly took a hold of his collar yanked him into the house and yelled for his Uncle. He knew he was going to get it now!

"Vernon", she yelled. "Vernon he's back."

"Oh the little freak of nature is back is he," he heard his uncle say with venom in his voice. "I'll teach him a lesson for using his freaking unnaturalness on Dudley," he screamed. "Come here BOY."

Harry was terrified and tried to run towards his cupboard. "Oh no you don't, you're going to get it from me this time you freak!"

SLAP. His uncle slapped him hard sending him flying back. Before Harry could even recover he got another slap on his other cheek.

"You dare try to hurt Dudley!" he screamed and this time brought down his fist into Harry's gut.

Harry cried out in pain feeling something sticky gather in his mouth.

He got another slap and blood sprayed out of his mouth.

"Please Uncle Vernon, I don't know what happened. It was like magic," said Harry, tears leaking out of his eyes.

Petunia gasped and Vernon roared in anger.

His uncle then pulled out a bat from the corner and came towards Harry, his eyes rolling in madness. Harry was pleading for his uncle to let him go and saying over and over again that he was sorry and that it would never happen again, but all fell on deaf ears.

15 minutes later he was throw into the cupboard with his body aching horribly and barely conscious. He couldn't feel his left arm and he could actually feel his broken ribs move when he tried to turn on his tiny mattress. His knew his back was bleeding and he had lost a tooth for sure.

Harry suddenly broke down and started crying. He had never been beaten up so bad by his family and despite his hatred for them, he couldn't help feeling betrayed. By whom, even he didn't know.

"What did I ever do to get this, was I not a good child to my parents," he said, wiping the tears rolling down his chin. Slowly he drifted into the darkness called sleep dreaming about learning to use magic and never getting beat up again. Come tomorrow he was going to do his best to master this amazing gift that he had.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next morning when Harry woke up he found the pain in his body was gone and his bones felt just fine as if they were never broken! He was amazed. This was just like the time when his hair had grown back after a horrible hair cut by his Aunt Petunia one night when he was four! He then realized this must have happened because he was a wizard and his magic might have healed him. He remembered yesterday's happenings and his eyes darkened.

His cupboard door was suddenly yanked open and his Aunt stood there looking at him surprised that he looked completely fine. She was planning to take him to the hospital and get him fixed up. After all, it wouldn't do any good if the neighbours saw the state he was in, but as it turned out, it wasn't required. "Go upstairs and wash yourself, you won't get breakfast and you will stay in your cupboard till dinner time, do you understand?"

"Yes aunt Petunia," he said quietly.

This suited him just fine as he now had the whole morning and afternoon to learn how to use his powers, though he would not be getting any food anytime soon. He went and washed himself and took a piece of paper from Dudley's room and went back to his cupboard.

He decided to try to levitate the piece of paper by trying to use the tingling. He kept the paper in front of him and tried making it float by concentrating on the piece of paper and willing it to float in the air by using his mind. He remembered one of the martial arts movies which Dudley used to watch and remembered the techniques they used to use to focus their mind.

"Think of a place where you are completely at peace. Imagine yourself there and let your body relax."

That's all he remembered but it was enough.

After 2 to 3 hours of trying to make it float he gave up and wondered why it was not floating or rather moving. He hadn't felt the tingling too. Some time passed without success when he realized that he should first try to get the tingling sensation in his body and then try to make the paper float. So he closed his eyes and tried to make his body tingle by meditating. But after 15 minutes of meditation he still didn't feel anything. Now he was getting frustrated, when he didn't want it to happen he would feel the tingling but when he wanted to feel it he couldn't and he kept thinking why?

After a few minutes of silent thinking it struck him, the tingling was magic and if he was a wizard, magic would be flowing all through his body like chakra in those ninja cartoons. So if he wanted to feel the tingling then that meant he would have to reach out to the magic that was in his blood! So once again he closed his eyes and this time he tried to feel the magic in him.

But nothing happened. He kept trying for another hour but still there was no result.

He slammed his fist into the wall in frustration. He hit it again and again and again until there was blood dripping from his knuckles.

"Why isn't it working!" he cried in tears. "Why!"

The cupboard door was yanked open and his aunt dragged him out by his ear ignoring his screams of pain.

"What on earth are you thinking making such a racket?!"

Harry just glared at his aunt with pure unadulterated hate through tear filled eyes.

Petunia felt a shiver a fear run down her spine as she Harry's eyes. No six year old should have that look in their eyes, she thought. But that's your fault isn't it Petunia, said a nasty voice in the back of her head.

She ignored it.

"Go upstairs and clean yourself, you look filthy," she said and walked away.

Harry just stood there for a minute trying to calm down by taking deep breaths. He then walked upstairs quietly with renewed determination. He would learn how to use magic or he would die trying. Never again would he let the Dursley's humiliate him, never again would he let them treat him like a slave.

Never again.

 **A month later**

He had done it. He had finally felt his magic. He felt completely at peace and felt as if he was floating in a place without rules. He felt floating peacefully until he saw a beautiful multicoloured ice like ball shaped thing floating quietly in this space giving out a sense of peace and power. Harry was completely enamoured by its beauty and kept moving towards it. As he moved closer and closer he couldn't see anything but the ball and felt like it was quietly calling him to it. Then when he finally reached it he slowly raised his hand and touched the ball.

The instant he did touched it, it started spreading everywhere rapidly and he felt like ice was spreading throughout his body giving him a sense of quiet power and calmness and then came the tingling. He then opened his eyes and with the magic flowing through his body he tried to make the paper float and lo behold the paper moved a little and floated slightly above his mattress, but then it suddenly fell and Harry was snapped out of his trance like state.

He felt so excited that he had finally done it! He had made the paper move! But what he hadn't expected was the waves of exhaustion which hit after doing that. He felt like he had just run across the whole London in less than 5 minutes! He laughed and was filled with a sense of accomplishment and victory.

But he then realized that he couldn't keep it in the air for more than two seconds and still felt so tired. "This is going to take a lot of practice and time," he said to himself giggling like a 3 year old girl. He lay on his smelly mattress thinking the faster he learnt how to use his powers, the faster he could save himself from bullies like Dudley and be treated better by the Dursley's.

"Yes, life was going to be better," he thought happily as he drifted off to the world of happy dreams.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter – 3 – The Letter**

 **23rd June, 1991**

It was the crack of dawn when a pair of green eyes slowly opened, blinked thrice and looked around the room groggily. Harry Potter then rolled of his bed and dragged his feet to the bathroom to bath before Dudley woke up and finished all the water.

Fifteen minutes later he came back to the room all freshened up. He sat by the window sill thinking about the last three years and to observe the majestic sight of the sun slowly waking up from its little slumber.

Harry had been moved to the smallest room in the house over three years ago when he had finally learnt how to use and control his magic to a certain level without get exhausted. He had asked his uncle to let him move to the smallest room in the house as he felt the cupboard was becoming too small for him.

His Uncle had gone purple in the face and tried to hit him for asking such an absurd question but found that his hand flew over Harry's head. The reason for his miss was soon discovered as he was floating 4 feet above the floor. He was then flung across the living room and he crashed unceremoniously on the floor, breaking a few tiles in the process. That had gotten his uncle and aunt's attention and soon Harry found himself to be the proud owner of an actual room with a window _and_ a bathroom.

Performing that piece of magic left Harry feeling lethargic for a few days but he got what he wanted and it also made life a little easier.

That little incident was enough for the Dursley's to start being civil to him whenever they saw him or just outright ignore him, which suited him just fine. His last three and half years were relatively peaceful but that didn't stop his aunt from giving him chores, but he didn't mind as long as they were letting him stay in a room with a window and allowing him to eat proper meals.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Are you up?!" came the demanding voice of his aunt Petunia.

"Yeah, yeah I'm up, I'm up. Coming down in a minute," Harry grumbled.

"Well you better hurry; today's Dudley's birthday and I want everything to be perfect. I don't want you doing any of your… you know what!"

Today was Dudley's birthday! How could he forget? He knew he better be on his best behaviour or else he would be living on the streets before he could even make the slightest form of protest, magic or no magic.

He went downstairs to find all the Dursley's around a pile of presents all for his pig of a cousin named Dudley. He quietly sat on the table and ate his egg and bacon watching Dudley count his presents. His face fell. "Thirty seven," he said going red in the face "That's one less than last year!"

Aunt Petunia sensing a tantrum coming quickly said "We'll buy you two more presents while we're out today. How's that, pumpkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..." "Thirty-nine, sweetums," said aunt Petunia, her voice coated with an overabundance of sweetness that Harry found revolting.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" he ruffled Dudley's hair.

The phone rang and Petunia answered it.

Harry looked at her interestedly as her expression went from joyful to crestfallen.

"Bad news, Vernon, Mrs. Figg's broke her leg. She can't take the boy," she said jerking her head in Harry's direction.

"Well what about your friend err… Yvonne," he asked.

"On vacation in Switzerland," she barked back.

"Well looks like we'll have to take the boy with us then, we can't leave him in the house. God only knows what will happen to the house if we do that," she said looking at his uncle.

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying- it had been years since he'd really cried- the last time he had cried was when Harry had blasted him back when they were six. But he knew that if he pretended to cry and wail, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"Dinky Duddydums! Don't cry! Mummy won't let him ruin your special, special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around his large waist.

"I… don't ... want him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "H-he always sp-spoils everything!"

He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap of his mother's arms.

Just then, the doorbell rang – "Oh, good lord, they're here!" aunt Petunia said frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother and sneered at Harry. As soon as he walked in Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursley's car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His Aunt and Uncle had not been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

"Boy I don't want any of your freakiness happening around today, do you hear me! You keep your nose clean and we won't give you any chores tomorrow, do you understand?"

"Yes uncle, but only if Dudley manages not to push me around," Harry said firmly.

Vernon's face turned blue in anger but he gave a short nod and stomped back to the car beckoning Harry to follow him.

On the way to the zoo his Uncle kept complaining about rash drivers and youngsters on motorcycles making Harry remember his dream about the flying motorcycle and how his life had changed after that.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way from the Dursley's so that he could watch the animals in the cages without being pushed or whacked in the head by Dudley who would then claim it was an accident.

By lunchtime both Dudley and Piers were bored and they decided to have lunch in the zoo restaurant. After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can – but at the moment it wasn't moving at all, in fact it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring glistening brown coils. "Make it move," he whined to his father. Vernon tapped the glass sharply but the snake didn't budge at all. "Do it again," he ordered and his father rapped on the glass harder but the snake still didn't move.

"This is boring," said Dudley and quickly shuffled to a different window.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

It winked.

Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see it anybody was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked too. The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling and spoke to Harry, " _I get that all the time."_

 _"It must be really annoying."_ Harry murmured through the glass feeling a bit bewildered about talking with a snake. " _Where are you from anyway?"_

It nodded its head towards the sign board which read **Boa constrictor, Brazil**.

" _Oh! How is it over there?"_ he asked.

" _Never been there"_ the snake replied _"I was born and grown in the zoo itself."_

Harry was sympathetic to the snake's plight and replied _"Oh that's sad, well I better get going before somebody sees me talking to you and freaks out cause I sure haven't heard of anybody ever talking to snakes before… … bye then!"_

" _Adios Amigo… you are interesting one of your kind, I hope we meet again,"_ the snake hissed back as Harry walked away towards uncle Vernon. He then saw Piers looking at him weirdly.

"You were talking to the snake weren't you? I heard you hissing at it," said Piers.

Harry just looked at him and slowly walked away pondering over what Piers had just said "You were hissing at." Was he speaking a different language or was Piers just pulling his leg like he usually did.

He heard his Uncle calling him and went back forgetting all about what Piers had just said to him.

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Two weeks later**

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"What's this?" he asked aunt Petunia. "Your new school uniform," she said. Harry looked in the bowl again. "Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."

"Don't be stupid," she snapped. "I'm dying some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look like everyone else's when I've finished."

Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at stonewall high. He sighed and decided to go practice summoning little bigger things like toys and big books.

Dudley and uncle Vernon came in, with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his smelting stick, which he carried everywhere on the table. He really was a spoilt brat.

They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. "Get the mail, Dudley," said uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

"Make Harry get it."

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke him with your smelting stick, Dudley."

Harry dodged the smelting stick and went to get the mail grumbling about pigs and jerks. There were three letters. A postcard from his Aunt Marge to Vernon, a brown envelope which looked like a bill and a thick letter with... his name written on it?

 **Mr. H. Potter**

 **The Smallest bedroom**

 **4 Privet Drive**

 **Little Whinging**

 **Surrey**

The envelope was thick, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.

Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.

"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.

Harry quickly stuffed the letter down his pants knowing his Uncle would want to read it first and took the remaining letters to the kitchen and handed them over to his Uncle quietly. He then slowly walked back to his room to read his letter, wondering who on Earth knew him out there.

Harry locked his room and pulled out his letter to read it not noticing the owl sitting just outside his window. He broke the seal and pulled out two thick parchments and began to read.

 **HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of wizards.)

 _Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall,_

 _Deputy Headmistress._

What the hell? Harry wondered. He took the other parchment and began to read that too.

 **HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

 **UNIFORM**

First-year students will require:

1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

 **COURSE BOOKS**

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The standard book of spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A history of magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Aresnius Jigger

Fantastic beasts and where to find then by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A guide to self-protection by Quentin Trimble

 **OTHER EQUIPMENT**

Wand

Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

Set glass or crystal phials

Telescope set

Brass scales

Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad.

 **PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.**

Harry was shocked … He could not believe his eyes. There was actually a school for wizards like him! Hell, there were more wizards and witches out there and here he thought he was the only one with such powers! He was trembling with excitement and read the letter again and again. It was like a dream come true.

Hold on, he thought suddenly. What was the part which said they await his owl no later than 31st July? "Do I have to write a letter to them or what?" he thought out aloud.

Suddenly he heard a taping noise on his window and spotted the owl outside. He jumped up from his bed and fell on his knees. He went quickly and opened the window with one hand and rubbed his knees with the other. The owl flew in and stood on his table and stuck its foot out.

Harry looked at it strangely and asked, "Do you want me send them a letter right now?" A hoot gave him all the confirmation he needed. He quickly took a sheet of paper and a pen and wrote:

 _Dear Professor McGonagall,_

 _I received your letter and will be very happy to attend Hogwarts from the 1st of September. However I do not know where to get my uniform and the rest of the equipment._

 _I would be glad if you could send someone over sometime tomorrow so that I can go and buy my school items._

 _Thanking you_

 _Yours sincerely_

 _Harry James Potter_

"Yep, that looks alright," said Harry re-reading the letter. He then rolled it and tied it to the owl which immediately flew out into the open sky.

He stared outside the window and suddenly burst out laughing. Happiness radiated out of him. "I'm going to learn more magic. And who knows, I might actually make friends for once in my life! And best of all, no Dursley's! What else could I ever want?!" he said to himself, still giddy with excitement. All he had to do now was announce the news to the Dursley's and convince them to let him go, hopefully without him having to use his magic against them.

He took deep breaths, counted till ten and calmed himself down. He reached out to his magic and willed it to flow through his body feeling the rush of power that always came with it, knowing that he was going to need it if his talk with his Aunt and Uncle was to go well without him getting any major injuries.

Harry put the letter back inside the envelope and went downstairs. All the three Dursley's were sitting by the television set watching a movie.

"Ahem. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon?"

He got no response, so in a still louder voice he said again, "Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia!"

"What do want boy," grunted his Uncle still staring at the T.V. "Erm I... umm got a letter today."

The reaction was spontaneous, immediately his Aunt gave a strangled gasp and his Uncle fell off the sofa while Dudley still stared at the television as if nothing had just happened.

"What did you just say," Vernon growled.

"I got a letter today, accepting me into Hogwarts School of magic" Harry stated bluntly.

"Wha… wha… WHAT?!" spluttered his Uncle.

"And," Harry said raising his voice a bit, "Somebody is coming to pick me up tomorrow." That said he handed over the letter to his Aunt who didn't say a word but just stare at the envelope like in a trance.

"How dare you! HOW DARE YOU COME DOWN AND PRESSUME THAT WE WILL SEND YOU TO SOME CRACKPOT MAGIC SCHOOL AND LEARN HOW TO TURN US INTO GOD KNOWS WHAT! YOU WILL GO TO STONEWALL HIGH LIKE ME AND YOUR AUNT TOLD YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

Harry just stood there waiting for his Uncle to finish his rant. "Are you done?" he asked him.

"What?" asked his Uncle still huffing and panting after that rant.

"I said are you done yelling because no matter what you do I am going to go and if you try to stop me… well I'm sure you remember what happened almost three years back don't you Uncle Vernon and you Aunt Petunia," Harry said with the threat clear in his voice.

Both his Uncle and Aunt just stood there watching him with their mouths opening quite stunned and didn't know what to say. "Now you look here boy," growled his Uncle, but Harry just raised his hands and levitated the two adult Dursley's and said "You were saying dear Uncle."

Both his Aunt and Uncle were now looking terrified at Harry feat of magic, but Dudley still hadn't realized what was going on as he was quite enjoying the movie he was watching. Harry just stood there waiting for his Uncle to say something while he started sweating slightly knowing that he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

"Alright, ALRIGHT," yelled his Aunt panicking and finally finding her voice.

"Petunia?" whimpered his Uncle.

"Please put us down and you can go to that ... that freak school of yours!"

Harry smirked in victory and dropped the two Dursley's down. His Uncle now back on the ground got his courage back and came stomping towards Harry but found himself unable to move when Harry raised his hands and pushed outwards towards him again making him slam into the wall. His Uncle crumpled into a heap on the floor moaning in pain.

"Tomorrow a professor will come to take me to buy some stuff. I'll leave on the 1st of September and you won't see me until next summer," Harry said looking straight into his Aunt's eyes knowing that they would be really glad to get rid of him.

She quietly nodded her head and hurried to Vernon to see if he was alright.

Harry then turned and started walking back to his room, knowing that he had just won an important battle. He wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead due to all the magic he just exuded and went to lay on his bed, knowing that tomorrow was going to be the greatest day of his life.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Diagon Alley**

The next day Harry woke up feeling very excited. Today was the day the witch, probably this Professor McGonagall, was going to come and meet him. He jumped out of his bed, quickly washed up and changed. He wore a dark blue denim jean and an old gray t-shirt, one of the few clothes that actually fitted him trying to look decent and respectable. He tried to comb his hair but it was of no use, it never stayed flat and always stuck up at weird angles. It also never grew longer considering he hadn't had a haircut for nearly 6 years, the last time being at the insistence of his Aunt who gave up when every strand of hair she cut grew back almost instantly.

He then went downstairs to wait for his guest to arrive and cook himself some breakfast. On his way to the kitchen he glanced at the big clock in the living room and realized it was just 5.30 in the morning. He chuckled quietly not wanting to wake the Dursley's up. Thirty minutes later he made himself a plate of boiled eggs, toast and bacon and went out to the garden to enjoy the sun rise and have a nice peaceful breakfast while being surrounded by identical houses, lawns and fences.

He lay on the grass after finishing his breakfast and putting his plate away, wondering where would he have to go to buy all the items he required. After all, all those times he had gone shopping with his Aunt Petunia he had never seen any shop in London which could even remotely have the all the things he needed to buy.

He remembered the one time a man with a pointed hat had suddenly come out of nowhere and given him a hug and hurried out of the shop they were in. But when Harry looked around for him, he was gone. He had vanished into the thin air. "He must have been a wizard too," he said to himself. "I wonder why he hugged me. That was really creepy."

Then there was this other time when an old ugly woman with a hunch had waved at him merrily, but before he could go and talk to her, his aunt had quickly hurried him out of the shop and into a waiting taxi. "She must have been a witch too," he thought to himself and wondered if all witches were that ugly.

He sighed and looked up into the orange blue sky trying to count the number of clouds in the sky. "I wonder where the school will be?" he said out loud again. "I wonder…," he began but shut his mouth realizing that he could keep wondering but wouldn't get any answers until the Professor showed up.

Then a scary thought rose in his head, what if the Professor didn't show up. What if this was a well thought out prank by the Dursley's, what if it was all a lie! Many absurd thoughts began to run through his head when suddenly let out a frustrated yell.

"BOY, what the hell are you yelling for?!" came the gruff voice of his uncle. Harry winced, cursing his stupidity and realized that the Dursley's hated magic and didn't have the brains to pull off such a well thought out prank. Slowly reassuring himself that this was indeed real and no joke, he made his way back to the house to wait for the Professor to show up.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was 9.00 AM already and Harry was getting quite worried as there were still no signs of anybody looking vaguely like a witch or a wizard as he poked his head out of the window the 10th time.

He had seen Mrs. Figg, who stayed next door, come out and feed her cats which stayed in her backyard. He had seen the postman deliver letters to various different houses on his rickety old bicycle. He had seen the milkman come and collect all the empty bottles and deliver new ones. But he had still not seen anybody come towards number 4 Privet Drive.

Walking back inside, he saw his Uncle and Aunt sitting in the living room looking quite nervous and dressed in their best clothes. Harry had to suppress a snort. Trust the Dursley's to try and show off to any human which turns up at their door step.

Then it happened. The door bell rang. He ran to the door, fumbled with the locks and quickly opened it. Outside stood the strictest looking woman he had ever seen. She had her black hair tied into a tight bun without a single strand of hair out of place. She had square spectacles that framed a face which had a lot of wrinkles and she had the thinnest lips he had ever seen.

He stood there gaping at her not moving an inch. She cleared her throat and Harry snapped out of his trance like state. "Oh sorry... hmm... you are?" he asked her. The lady lips twitched in amusement and said, "I'm Professor McGonagall and you must be Harry James Potter."

"Oh yeah, yeah I am him, I mean I'm Harry Potter and you're the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts. Are you here to take me shopping? Where will we be going? Are the shops in London or elsewhere? Oh wait, wait I'm forgetting my manners, please come in Professor, do you want something to drink?" Harry said all this in one breath unable to contain the excitement building inside him. A part of him was rolling in laughter at his behaviour but Harry was too excited to care.

The Professor just stared at him after his short speech, but before she could say anything she was pulled into the house by Harry and lead to the living room where the Dursley's were seated.

"Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon," Harry said formally. "This is Professor McGonagall; she's the deputy head of Hogwarts."

"Hello Petunia, it's been a long time since I last saw you," said the Professor looking at his Aunt. Petunia just nodded her head unable to say anything.

"Do you want something to drink Professor?" Harry asked her again.

"Yes please, water will do just fine."

Harry practically ran to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. When he came back she was sitting comfortably on one of the sofas and both Dursley's were standing as far as possible from her. He quietly gave her the glass and watched her drink it.

"So when are we leaving? Will we go right now? How are we going to go? Where is the school? How big is it?" but he stopped when she raised her hand signalling him to stop. He watched her eagerly waiting for her to give him the answers that had been bugging him since morning.

She smiled at him and said, "I know you must have a lot of questions." Harry just stared at her and waited for her to answer them. "Well don't worry; I've meet a lot many children who are just as eager as you are."

"I don't want to know about them, I want to know about the school."

McGonagall looked amused. "Patience is an important virtue Mr Potter, and to your previous questions we will first go to a Mr. Austin's house as I have to pick up another child and then we will go and buy your items. As for the school, it's in Scotland and as for its size…. Well you will have to see for yourself."

"Now are you ready to leave?" she asked him. Harry just nodded, his head still processing all she had just said.

"Mrs. Dursley, Mr. Dursley," she addressed his Aunt and Uncle, "I will return with your ward sometime in the evening. You will have to take him to King's Cross on September 1st for him to catch his train to Hogwarts. If he doesn't show up a teacher will he sent over to inquire as to why he missed his train. There will be a short Christmas vacation in which he can come back and visit you... or not. The year will end in May and he will have to return home for the summer break. If he breaks any school rules a letter will be sent to inform you about it and at the end of each term we will send you his progress report."

"Can't he stay at that school during the summer also?" Uncle Vernon questioned with a little hope in his voice.

"No Mr. Dursley he cannot," she said narrowing her eyes, "It is against the rules of the school. Now have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, yes you have, now take the boy and get the hell out of my house," Uncle Vernon sneered while Aunt Petunia just looked on.

Professor McGonagall looked at them both in disgust before turning around and called Harry to her. "Come on child, we have a lot of work to do."

"I'm not a child," Harry said annoyed.

"Yes, yes sure you're not," she said absently. "Now come on lets go."

She led him to a secluded corner at the end of the street. She removed a stick from within her clothes and stuck her hand out.

"What's that stick in your hand, Professor?" Harry asked her.

"This Harry is a wand which helps you do magic, you will be getting one too when we get to Diagon Alley."

"Diagon Alley? Is that where we will get the stuff we need to buy?"

"Yes Harry, now keep quiet for a while," she told him now getting irritated by the number of questions he kept asking her.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and a huge purple triple-decker bus with The Knight Bus written in large golden letters on its sides came out of nowhere and stopped right next to them.

"WOW!" that's all that came out of Harry's mouth.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick your wand hand and step aboard, we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this lovely morning."

"Yes thank you very much Stan, now take us to Number 10, Gordon Street please," said the Professor stepping aboard and making her way to one of the seats pulling Harry along with her who was too stunned to move or talk.

"That will be 7 sickles Professor," said the conductor. Professor McGonagall dig her hand into her pocket and Harry watched in alarm as her entire hand sunk into her pocket! She then fished out some silver coins and handed them over to Stan.

"Was that money?" asked Harry looking on in interest, finally finding his voice.

"Yes, all will be explained to you once we get the other girl. I don't want to explain to her once again."

Harry wondered what a young Witch would look like. Would she be scary faced like the two witches he had come across so far or would she be just as normal as any other girl around.

Suddenly the bus shot forward with a bang causing Harry to fall back into his seat. After about 20 seconds it stopped with another bang causing him to fall ahead and hit his face hard on the glass in front of him just as he managed to get back to his chair. "Your stop Mrs. Adams," Stan said to a lady at the back of the bus. She quickly got off the bus and emptied her stomach on the sidewalk.

Just before the bus started again, he quickly got back to his seat and held on to the sides as if his life were at stake.

McGonagall looked at him quite amused at his antics and just sat there quietly waiting for their stop to arrive. She looked at him again thinking about the amount of questions he kept asking her before they got on the bus. She could practically imagine him asking dozens of questions at Hogwarts during the classes. She smiled when she imagined the look on Severus's face if anybody dared to ask him any question.

"What's so funny Professor?" Harry asked her.

"Harry, why don't you keep quiet until we get there, you look quite green at the moment." She was quite tired by his constant questioning and couldn't believe that he could still ask questions when he looked like he was about to throw up any second.

About 5 minutes later the bus stopped with a jerk next to a street in a small alley which looked sadly just like Privet Drive, except it was a little more decrepit.

Harry fell out of his seat and quickly ran outside the bus clearly not wanting to stay inside for another minute.

The bus then vanished with another bang and he looked at the Professor, "I hope we do not have to use that bus again," he said sourly.

McGonagall just gave him a stern look which clearly said mind your tone young man and walked out of the alley towards the house with a number 10 on its front door.

Harry quickly followed her as she made her way to the front door.

DING DONG.

A shriek sounded from inside and the door opened to reveal a tall man with blonde hair.

"Are you Mr. Austin?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"That's correct," he said, a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"I'm Professor McGonagall and I am here for a Ms. Lillian Mary Austin," she said, narrowing her eyes at the smoke rising from the tip of the cigarette.

"Oh, come in, you must be the teacher from that magic school. And who's the young man behind you?"

"This is Harry Potter and he's going to accompany me along with your daughter to do their shopping," she said.

"Alright then, hey Lillian!" he yelled, "The teacher from that magic school is here!"

"Coming, coming dad!" came the voice of a girl from the top of the stairs and she came bounding down to meet them. She was about Harry's height, had light freckles across her narrow nose, and straw like black hair falling halfway down her back. Her hair had reddish streaks in certain places which seemed artificially applied. Her eyes were electric blue and she was wearing cream coloured khaki pants with a tucked in half sleeved black and yellow caption less T-shirt.

Her clothes seemed a little loose around her slim frame and Harry observed her with interest.

"Hi," she said smartly to the Professor before sticking out her hand, "You must be Professor McGonagall, pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Miss Austin, you certainly have better manners than this young man beside me," she said glancing towards Harry while shaking the girls hand.

"My manners are great I'll have you know!" said Harry petulantly. Inside he was cursing himself for acting like an idiot. But then it didn't matter today. Today was different. He could act like the biggest moron on the planet and he wouldn't even care.

McGonagall just chuckled and turned to Mr. Austin and said, "Well sir, I'll be taking these two with me. We better leave now or we won't be getting back before nightfall. I'm sure you read all the rules and instructions on the parchment inside the school letter."

"Yes I have ma'am," replied Mr. Austin, taking a deep drag of his cigarette and carelessly dropping the ashes on the floor. "Well doll, I'll see you later, have fun and don't trouble the Professor."

"Yes dad," she said, rolling her eyes at him, "Bye then, see you in the evening."

That done all three of them walked out of the house and moved towards the alley were the knight bus had stopped.

"How come you didn't explain everything to him like you did to my Aunt and Uncle?" Harry asked her.

"Because your Aunt and Uncle are lousy and disgusting people and I don't like them," was the curt response.

"Oh, right, I don't like them too," he said.

Professor McGonagall put her hand into her robes and removed her wand and a small cup. "We aren't going by that damn purple bus again are we?" Harry groaned.

"No, we're taking a portkey and mind your language Mr. Potter," she said.

"What's a portkey and what bus?" Lillian asked before Harry could ask. He looked at her startled clearly forgetting that they had another companion now.

"Yeah, what's a portkey?" Harry also asked the stern Professor forgetting about the bus.

McGonagall just sighed loudly before muttering, "I'm getting too old for this, should get Severus or Hagrid to do this job now."

"Alright the both of you, I am getting quite tired of all these questions and I will explain everything once we get to Diagon alley. Now both of you touch this cup and don't say a word," she said before holding out the cup to them.

Both Harry and Lillian touched the cup and waited for something to happen. McGonagall then tapped the cup with her cup and counted till three. On three Harry felt a sharp tug below his navel and his world dissolved into a multicoloured swirling vortex.

After a few seconds of being tossed and turned around both Harry and Lillian fell on top of each other completely disoriented while McGonagall landed on her feet. They were outside a dirty looking pub with a sign board which had the words **'The Leaky Cauldron'** written on it.

Lillian was still on top of Harry trying to clear her head when she heard Harry say, "Err Austin, or whatever your name is, I know I'm good looking and all and you like the position we're in, but I'd really appreciate it if you got off me."

"Oh," she yelped and quickly scrambled to her feet and glared at Harry, her face heating up with embarrassment.

Harry just smirked at her and got to his feet. "Hey Professor, where are we?" he asked Professor McGonagall.

McGonagall frowned at him and said, "Mr. Potter, you should really learn to control that tongue of yours. This place is the Leaky cauldron and it's a wizarding pub and is invisible to muggles."

"What are muggles?" asked both children together.

McGonagall took a deep breath and calmed herself before she lost her temper. She looked at them both and said, "I know you have a lot of questions to ask…"

"You think!" Harry exclaimed; only to be at the receiving end of Professor McGonagall's glare, "That's one nasty glare," he muttered.

"As I was saying," she said still glaring at Harry, "before I was interrupted by Mr. Potter here, I will explain everything to you once we get inside. Mr. Potter, I suggest you keep your mouth shut for the next 20 minutes or I will turn you into a toad for the rest of your life."

Harry was about to retort but thought wisely against it.

"That's better," McGonagall muttered.

Lillian started sniggering when she heard the Professor's comment. "What are you laughing about Freckles," Harry snapped, feeling a little put down.

"What did you call me?!" she asked narrowing her eyes severely.

"Nothing, nothing Austin, was just commenting about those horrendous dots on your face," Harry said airily waving his hands in the air.

"Why you little piece of shit, I'm going to strangle your damn neck," she said angrily, raising her hands. Apparently her freckles were a sore topic and one her friends back home teased her mercilessly about.

"Temper, temper Freckles! We don't want the good Professor to turn us into toads now do we?" he said pompously and was about to give another comment when Professor McGonagall's sharp voice cut through.

"That's enough, the both of you. Now get in there and don't talk unless I tell you to," she said loosing hold of her temper.

Lillian glared Harry and he just smiled before quietly walking into the grubby pub.

As soon as they walked in almost everybody in the pub turned towards them and slowly the whole pub fell silent. Harry could feel all the eyes in the room lock onto his scar and the feeling was quite forbidding.

"Merlin's beard! It's Harry Potter!" exclaimed a woman sitting closest to where the three were standing. Everybody started muttering and people started walking towards them and started hugging and shaking Harry's hands. "So proud Mr. Potter, so proud," one said. "Such an honour!" said another shaking his head; another was crying and shaking his hand vigorously while another was hugging him tightly from behind.

For his part Harry was completely baffled at everybody's reaction to him and didn't know how to react. But he was saved when Professor McGonagall called out, "Ok that's enough, all of you, I'm sure Mr. Potter would love to talk to you all but we don't have much time." She looked around for the bartender and asked him for a private room. "Right away Professor McGonagall, anything for the boy who lived," said Tom the bartender and led them to a room at the other end of the bar.

When Tom went away Harry looked at Professor McGonagall and said loudly, "What the bloody hell was all that about!"

"Language Mr. Potter and what are you talking about?" said the Professor.

"What do mean what am I talking about? I mean all that back there! The hugging, the crying and all the congratulations! What was all that and why only me and why not her! I mean she's also new right?" he asked her still shocked.

"You mean you don't know?!" she said looking at him with wide eyes.

"Know what?"

"They didn't tell you!"

"Tell me what! Look you aren't making any sense to me, so will you please explain to me what's going on," Harry shouted.

"You don't know how you got that scar do you?" she finally asked him understanding what was going on now.

"What do mean how I got the scar? I got it in the car crash when my parents died."

"WHAT!" she cried out.

"You mean that's not how I got it?"

"No," she spluttered, "I-I mean how? You don't know about your parents!"

"What are you talking about lady?" he snarled losing his temper.

Lillian meanwhile was just watching the both of them wondering what this was all about.

McGonagall finally pulled herself together and went back to her strict Professor stance. She gestured towards the chairs and told them both to sit down, muttering about stupid muggles and idiotic headmasters.

She took a deep breath and then began, "Many years ago there was a very evil wizard who wanted to take control of the wizarding world, he began to kill anybody who stood in his way and gathered a lot of fanatical followers."

She took another deep breath and continued, "Anyway he wanted to get rid of all people who did not have a wizarding family..., people like you Miss Austin," she said nodding towards her. "Those were very dark times. Nobody was safe and people were dying everywhere."

"One night he came to your house Harry, he killed both your mother and father and then came to kill you. But he couldn't, he tried to kill you but could not. Somehow his powers broke and he vanished. Some people say he's dead and some say he's too weak and powerless but still alive. Nobody knows what happened that night and that how you got that scar. That's why everybody wants to meet you and shake your hand. That's why you're famous in the wizarding world Harry."

After hearing this something painful was going on inside his head. He remembered the green light, he remembered the woman's screams and then he remembered the words the snake like man with red eyes had said. _"Avada Kedavra,"_ he whispered.

"What was that Potter," said the Professor her eyes widening.

"Avada Kedavra, that's what he said before turning his wand on me. Just after he killed my… my mother," he said realizing with a start, that the screaming woman with red hair was his mother.

There was complete silence for a while before it was broken by Lillian. "Professor what was his name? The man who killed Harry's parents?" she asked timidly.

"We don't say his name, but if what to know it was Voldemort," she said with a shudder.

"Voldemort?" asked Harry, "That's his name?"

"Yes, but everybody calls him You Know Who or He Who Must Not Be Named," said Professor McGonagall.

"What were my parents names Professor?" Harry asked.

"You don't know!" McGonagall asked him her eyes going wide in disbelief.

"They never told me anything," he said bitterly, "To them I was a freak of nature and deserved to be fed to the dogs."

"Horrible those muggles, worst of their kind," she said looking at him sadly.

"Muggles?" questioned Lillian, "What are they?"

"Non magical people like your father and others who can't do magic," said McGonagall.

"Tell me about them Professor, my parents," Harry asked her. McGonagall let out a small laugh and said, "Well your father, James Potter was quite the charmer. He had a huge fan club of girls but he had his eyes fixed only on your mother, Lily Evans. He was always playing pranks on everybody while your mother on the other hand was a spirited but studious girl. God only knows how they ended up together, but I know that they were very much deeply in love with each other. You look exactly like your father but have your mother's eyes," she said.

"Lily and James," Harry said softly, committing the names to memory.

"Yes, yes it does," McGonagall replied sadly.

She checked the time on her pocket watch and said, "Well we better get going, we have a lot of shopping to do."

She got up and they all went out nodding to Tom on the way and made their way to the door that had the words Diagon Alley printed on it. They all moved through the door only to come up against a wall.

"Err... Professor? Is this supposed to be Diagon Alley?" Harry asked her quite confused while Lillian looked around looking confused herself.

"No Mr. Potter, will you give me a minute?" she snapped back, but was pleased he was getting back to normal after the conversation they just had.

She pulled out her wand and tapped on a different colour brick three times. The brick she touched quivered – it wriggled and a small hole appeared which grew wider and wider until there was a large archway, big enough to fit all three of them together.

Both Harry and Lillian stood there with their mouths open, unable to believe what had just happened. "Welcome to Diagon Alley," Professor McGonagall said with a small smile playing at her lips, "Come on, go in now," she said gently.

"Wow," Lillian said, still stunned and was looking around the busy street and the many different shops everywhere. Harry just shook his head in agreement staring at the different sign boards.

There were owl shops, cauldron shops, and a shop selling brooms, a moving cart advertising the entrails of a squid, magical charms displayed on the pavement which promised riches beyond measure, the craziness was endless. He heard a woman say "Dragon liver, seventeen sickles an ounce, they're mad…" as they passed the apothecary which had a weird smell to it.

They passed by people dressed only in robes and pointed hats. A few were dressed in clothes that could be called normal but everyone was in a hurry. The streets were busy with trade and more than once they stopped to stare at witches bargaining for dragon hide and acromantula silk with roadside vendors. McGonagall had to nudge the awestruck children every five steps they took.

Soon they reached their destination; a snowy white dome shaped building towering over the others. It had huge bronze doors and dressed in scarlet and gold were the weirdest creatures Harry had seen in his entire life.

"What on Earth are those things Professor?" Lillian gasped, voicing Harry's question as well.

"That, Ms. Austin, is a goblin and the building is called Gringotts; the only wizarding bank in the world," the Professor replied.

The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them.

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed_

 _Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

 _For those who take, but do not earn,_

 _Must pay most dearly in their turn._

 _So if you seek beneath our floors_

 _A treasure that was never yours,_

 _Thief, you have been warned, beware_

 _Of finding more than treasure there._

The message was very clear, don't even think about robbing the bank or you will pay dearly. A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Professor McGonagall, Lillian and Harry made for one of the empty counters.

"Good morning," McGonagall said to the goblin. "We've come to take some money out of Mr. Potter's safe and exchange some Muggle notes for galleons."

"Please show the key and hand over the Muggle currency, madam," said the goblin.

McGonagall removed a gold key from her pocket and gave it to the goblin along with a thick wad of Muggle notes she had gotten from Mr. Austin earlier.

The goblin took the notes, counted them carefully before removing a sack of coins and giving it to the Professor. "That's 200 Galleons and 15 Knuts," he said. He then looked at Harry's key carefully before and said, "Very well all seems to be in order," handing back the key to Professor McGonagall, "I'll have someone take you down to the vaults. GRIPHOOK!" he shouted.

Griphook was yet another goblin who led the all to door and held it open for them. They were in a narrow passageway dimly lit with torches and had railway tracks running on the ground. Griphook whistled and a cart came rattling towards them. They climbed in and shot off at a tremendous speed.

Left, right, left, up down, left, left, there were so many twists and turns that it was impossible to remember. At one point Harry thought he saw something like a dragon but he felt he might have imagined it. He then realized that the cart seemed to know where it was going because Griphook wasn't steering.

Suddenly the cart came to a stop next to a door in the wall. "That was awesome!" Lillian cried, "Let's do it again!"

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it because I certainly didn't," Professor McGonagall said in a shaky voice.

The goblin took the key from the Professor and put it into the door. Suddenly a lot of clicking sounds came and the door opened with a lot of green smoke billowing out of it. Inside were heaps of gold coins, mountains of silver and columns of little bronze ones.

They had to spend a moment to admire the sight of the gleaming gold. "This is all mine?" Harry gasped.

"All yours," McGonagall said smiling.

"Now listen carefully the both of you, the gold ones are Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles and 17 sickles make a Galleon and the little bronze ones are Knuts, 29 Knuts make a Sickle," said McGonagall.

"You sure are rich Potter," said Lillian in awe.

"Yeah, yeah I am," answered Harry happily. Lillian just rolled her eyes waiting for him to take his money so they could move on.

Another wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts.

"Now that you both have got your money, remember to use it wisely and don't send it on things you do not require. Miss. Austin, 200 galleons is a lot of money and it will easily last you at least 4 to 5 years at Hogwarts. You will have to leave the entire remaining amount at home after today's shopping but you may keep 30-50 Galleons with you when you come to Hogwarts for emergencies. The rest is to be left with your father."

"Well come on lets go any buy you yours wands first and then get your uniforms. Meanwhile I'll go buy your cauldron, potions ingredients, books and telescope. Come on now," Professor McGonagall said, pushing them towards the wand shop recognizing the glint in their eyes since they now had their money bags and realizing whatever she had just said about being careful with your money had flown right over their heads. She took some galleons from each of them and pointed them in the direction of the wand shop. "You both better behave yourselves, I don't want to come back and find the shop in ruins," she said giving them a stern look before making her way to the book shop Flourish and Blotts.

The shop was small and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 328 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell sounded deep within the shop as they entered it. It was like an old library with boxes everywhere. The shop had a strange mysterious feel about it.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter, I was wondering when I would be seeing you and a good afternoon to you too Ms. Austin." They both jumped and looked around only to find themselves staring at a pair of mysterious silvery eyes. "Well I suppose you might be here for your wands."

"Actually no, we're here to buy broomsticks," Lillian said sarcastically. Ollivander just chuckled and said, "Ah, the youth of today, they have funniest sense of humour."

"Well let's start with you young man, which is your wand hand?" he asked Harry. "Erm... I'm right handed, sir," Harry said. Ollivander then pulled out a box and said, "Birchwood and dragon heart strings, try it."

Harry held it in his hand but found it gone immediately as Ollivander muttered "No, no, no, here try this, Yew and Unicorn hair, quite an unusual combination," Harry took it and found it out of his hands again.

This continued for at least another 20 minutes when Ollivander looked up happily and said, "Tricky customer eh, not to worry we'll find the right wand for you...," he stopped suddenly and said , " I wonder, I wonder" He went to a corner bent down and pulled out another box. "Try this Mr. Potter, Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." Harry took the wand and felt a slight tingling sensation at the back of his hand which stopped after a while.

"No, this is not it either," Ollivander said looking quite disappointed. "Well we shall get back to you later Mr. Potter, I have to ask you some questions, but first let's find a wand for Ms. Austin."

Harry was quite disappointed that he has not yet got a wand and was worried about what would happen if he couldn't get wand for himself.

Meanwhile Lillian was busy trying various wands. Half an hour later Ollivander straightened up looking positively gleeful, "Well two difficult customers in one day, what could be better!" His eyes then fell on the holly and phoenix feather wand which lying next to Harry. He looked at it long and hard for a few seconds then looked back at Lillian and asked her to try it. She took the wand and waved it, immediately she felt warmth spread within her and fire came gushing out of her wand setting Harry's sleeve on fire.

"Ah…!" Harry yelled, panicking. "Put it out, put it out!" Ollivander quickly pulled his wand out and waved it towards Harry making a thin column of water to stream out and put out the fire from his clothes, leaving him uninjured.

Harry glared daggers at Lillian and yelled, "You did that on purpose! What were you trying to do! Kill me?"

Lillian just giggled and said, "I didn't do it on purpose, I just felt so warm and nice, it was like a fire burning inside me."

Harry just huffed and muttered, "Yeah right." She rolled her eyes and started admiring her new wand.

Ollivander clapped his hands happily and said, "How curious, how very curious."

"What's so curious sir," Lillian asked him. Ollivander stared at her with his mysterious silvery eyes causing her to gulp audibly, he then said softly, "I remember every wand I've sold Ms. Austin, every single one. It so happens that the phoenix which gave that feather in your core, gave another one, exactly the same in all properties and proportions. What is so curious is that you should be destined for that wand when its brother gave young Mr. Potter his scar."

It took them a whole minute to understand the meaning behind the wand maker's words.

"You mean Voldemort has the other wand? The brother of this wand?!" Lillian stuttered, while Harry just gaped at her.

"Do not speak his name! But yes he who must not be named did have the other wand, Yew and Phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches; a very, very powerful wand and dangerous in the wrong hands. After all You Know Who did terrible... but great things, so I think it would safe to expect great and wonderful things from you too Ms. Austin."

"And now back to you Mr. Potter, Well do you both know what it means to have a wand?"

Both shook their heads indicating that they had no clue.

"A wand is a magical object which has the ability to reach out to your magical core and forcibly pull it out allowing you to perform magic. Every living being has a core, even muggles, else we cannot exist. You could also call that core a part of your soul. But compared to muggles we have a magical core which is at least a 100 times bigger than what would be the size of a muggles magical core." He looked at them hard and then asked Harry a question, "Mr. Potter, have you ever tried to reach out to your magical core?"

"What do you mean?" Harry replied, unsure of what to say.

"What I mean is have you ever tried to see and feel the magic inside you and knowingly perform magic without a wand?" he asked Harry.

"Yeah, I have when I was six years old, though it took me about two years to use it properly, I can lock and unlock, summon things to me and levitate stuff, like, well watch this." He raised his hands towards Lillian and lifted her about 3 feet into the air and then dropped her on her bum.

She gave a strangled yell when she fell back on the floor; she immediately got up and yelled at Harry, "What was that for you jerk? That's it you're going to get it from me." She started walking towards Harry but didn't find herself anywhere near him. Confused she looked down to find herself, again, a foot above the ground. "Put me down you… you... you moron!" she screamed at him again.

Harry just sniggered and put her down gently. She glared at him before turning away from him huffing in anger.

"Truly marvellous," Ollivander said clapping loudly. "Absolutely stunning and not to mention at the age of six! Mr. Potter do you know what you have just done?"

"Err… I did magic?"

"You have just done something that no other wizard or witch has ever been able to do, even though many have tried in the past. You successfully managed to call out your magical core and use it at will, which is considered impossible in the wizarding world, you being the lone exception." Ollivander said looking at Harry in awe.

"Oh, I didn't know it was such a big deal!" Harry said with wide eyes.

"You are an extremely powerful wizard Mr. Potter. No wand I have made will suit you since they are all designed to forcibly draw out the magical core, not co-exist with the will of the wizard. But still I think I have the right wand for you." Ollivander went to the back of his shop still muttering about magical cores and powerful wizards.

Lillian looked at Harry with grudging respect and said, "You really know how to do things with a bang don't you?"

Harry just looked at her, gave an arrogant smirk and said, "That's who I am Freckles, that's who I am."

Whatever respect she had just gained for him was all crushed in that very instant. "Stop calling me that stupid name, you stupid git," she said in annoyance. "I don't like it."

Harry just laughed and looked back at Ollivander who had just come in with a beautifully carved wooden box. He carefully laid it on the table and opened it.

Inside was the most beautiful wand he had ever seen. It was jet black and in white, it had some strange markings etched into it. It had a slight hook at one end for the person to hold the wand. He looked at Ollivander looking for permission to pick it up.

Harry removed it from the box and firmly grasped it in his wand hand. For a moment nothing happened. And then he felt what he had felt all those years ago, only this time it was so much stronger and the power he felt was intoxicating. He felt like he was in heaven. The icy feeling rushed through him again sending waves of pleasure through him. He closed his eyes and connected with his magic himself and felt more power rushing through his veins giving him a sense of complete invincibility. Slowly the feeling died down but he could still feel the hum of the wand in his hand. It was like a missing piece of his soul had just been returned to him.

He slowly opened his eyes and was stunned by the sight that greeted him. Ollivander and Lillian were crouching behind the table and the whole shop was filled with ice shavings. There was ice coming out of the floor, sticking out of the roof and there was even some snow lying around.

Ollivander and Lillian slowly came out from under the table looking at Harry with disbelief. Ollivander then spoke up, "Perhaps you would like to know what is so special about your wand and what makes you a very special wizard."

Harry nodded his head and gestured Ollivander to continue. "Very well, your wand goes by many names, it is a legend among all wand makers and was last held by Albus Dumbledore, defeater of the dark wizard Grindelwald who had the wand before Dumbledore beat him and took it from him. It is known as the Death stick or the Elder wand or the Wand of Destiny. It has a very dark history and nobody knows how old it actually is."

He looked at both Harry and Lillian, realizing he had their full attention he continued, "It is said to have been a gift by death himself to a wizard he deemed worthy of being its host. Both wizard and wand were happy to be in each other's hands until the wizard was brutally murdered and had his wand stolen from him. For years people have looked for this wand and the ones that found it have always been killed or have had the wand stolen. Ever since that night when it's original owner was killed, the wand has never fully accepted anybody as its rightful owner, anybody at all that is until you came along. This wand has fully given you its allegiance and this is proof of it," he said gesturing around the shop, "Use it wisely young wizard," Ollivander said looking proudly at Harry.

Harry looked at his wand in awe which was still humming powerfully in his hand.

"How much for the wands, Sir?" he asked Ollivander.

Ollivander just chuckled and said, "That will be seven galleons each."

Both kids just nodded their heads thinking about how eventful their day had been and quietly handed over the money to the old wand maker.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Austin. I would advise you both to keep the story behind Mr. Potter's wand a secret or else people will start wanting the wand for themselves. And Mr. Potter, don't ever show your skill with wandless magic to anybody unless absolutely necessary," he said seriously before bidding them goodbye.

Both nodded their heads and walked out of the store, Harry still wet and Lillian with ice and snow in her hair.

Back in the wand makers shop, Ollivander said to himself, "What an eventful day, First a Fire elemental, who haven't been seen for almost a millennia gains the allegiance of a powerful phoenix core wand and then another elemental, one who has never existed before, one with the power to manipulate water in many forms shows up and gains the allegiance of the wand of destiny! I wonder when they will realize what they are." He chuckled to himself and went to the back of his store to work on making more wands.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Both Harry and Lillian had just come out of the store when they saw Professor McGonagall walking towards then. She looked at them both and noticed a very wet Harry Potter and a cold Lillian Mary Austin. "You sure took your time. I hope the whole thing went without any incidents?" she asked suspiciously.

"She set me on fire," Harry stated bluntly.

Lillian gasped in outrage and said, "I didn't do it on purpose!" she protested.

"Yes you did!" Harry snapped back at her.

"Well you almost knocked me out with those huge ice blocks of yours!" she yelled back at him.

Harry just laughed out loud. Lillian was preparing a retort but then she visibly deflated and muttered, "Arrogant git."

McGonagall saw them bickering again and thought, "Does it ever stop? They have been annoying each other ever since they met. I can't imagine what it's going to be like at Hogwarts with magic at their disposal!"

"Come on, let's get your Hogwarts uniform," she said sharply, "And please keep quiet or I'm going to get a splitting headache."

"Yes, Professor," they both said simultaneously, feigning obedience.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Half an hour later when they finally had gotten all their stuff, McGonagall asked them, "Well do you want to buy anything else?"

"I want to buy an owl," said Harry and Lillian said, "I want to buy a cat!"

McGonagall just nodded and sent Harry to the owl emporium and Lillian to the pet store which were side by side to each other.

Twenty minutes later, Harry came out; the proud owner of a snowy white owl whom he christened 'Hedwig' and another five minutes later Lillian came out, the proud owner of a tiny cute orange cat with green eyes whom she christened 'Tom'.

"What kind of a person names a cat Tom," Harry asked her as they walked towards the leaky cauldron.

"The kind who loves watching Tom and Jerry," she replied, not in the mood for another argument. Harry had no idea what this Tom and Jerry was.

Just outside the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron McGonagall stopped and turned towards them. "Now listen closely, your items have already been sent to your respective houses. Now this here is your train ticket for your journey on the 1st of September," she said handing them an envelope each. "To reach the platform nine and three quarters you will have to walk straight into the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Now do you have any questions?"

"Stuff already home, walk into barrier between platforms nine and ten, yep I'm good to go," Lillian said happily.

"Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, understood," he said.

"Alright then, touch this portkey and it will take us back to Ms. Austin's home and then I shall side along apparate with you back to your home Mr. Potter."

All three of them touched the portkey and were immediately portkeyed to the place they had left from earlier. Lillian hugged Professor McGonagall before she hurried back home. The Professor then turned back to Harry and said, "Alright Harry now just grab my hand tightly and we will get to your home in an instant."

Harry nodded and held her hand tightly.

Almost immediately he felt like the air was being squeezed out of his lungs and he was being sucked through a tight rubber tube and then it was gone. He took deep breaths steadying himself before giving the Professor an annoyed glare, "Don't wizards have any comfortable means of transportation," he asked her.

She just looked at him and said bluntly, "No we don't."

Taken aback by the straight forward answer Harry started walking towards number 4 Private Drive. "Oh and Harry," the Professor called out to him before vanishing, "Happy birthday six hours in advance."

Harry smiled at her, muttered thank you and slowly made his way to the Dursley's house feeling happier than he had ever felt before.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Hogwarts and the Sorting**

 **Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts**

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office idly sucking on a lemon drop, a muggle sweet he was rather fond of, while his familiar, a beautiful scarlet phoenix with a long golden tail sat on its perch trilling in amusement.

Suddenly an owl flew in through the window, dropped a letter on the headmasters head and flew back out into the darkness without pausing to see if the headmaster would want to write a note back to whoever had sent the letter.

He just chuckled and picked up the rolled up parchment.

It was a letter from Ollivander. Immediately Albus sat a little straighter in his chair thinking of the only one reason possible as to why the old wand maker would have written to him. He opened the letter and read.

 _Albus,_

 _The wand with your phoenix's second tail feather has chosen a wielder._

 _Yesterday Mr. Potter and a muggleborn by the name Lillian Austin, came to my shop to buy their wands. The Holly and Phoenix feather wand choose Ms. Austin as its new owner. Mr. Potter on the other hand was quite the surprise. I am certain you will recognize the wand that chose him if you have an opportunity to look at it._

 _Have a nice day,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Ollivander: Makers of fine wands since 362 B.C_

Professor Dumbledore sat quietly on his chair thinking about the letter he had just received. "So your second wand has been purchased, Fawkes," Dumbledore said looking at the phoenix. Fawkes just ruffled his feathers in response.

"Strange," he muttered, "I expected Mr. Potter to get that wand." He opened his drawer and pulled out a diary and began to write.

Five minutes later he closed his diary and called a house elf, "Binky!"

A small elf popped into the room staring at him with big wide round eyes. "Yes Master Dumbledore? You is calling for me?"

"Yes Binky, could you please go to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape and ask them to please come up to my office," he told the little elf.

"Yes Professor Dumbledore, sir," she squeaked and vanished with a pop.

Fifteen minutes and 7 lemon drops later there was a knock on his door. "Minerva, Severus, please do come in." Both Professors looked mildly curious as to what the headmaster wanted at this hour.

"Care for a lemon drop?" he asked them both.

"No thank you Albus, now why did you call us here?" Professor McGonagall asked. She was not pleased at the headmaster for waking her at such an hour.

Professor Snape didn't say anything but looked anywhere but at the headmaster.

"I would like to talk to you about the two students you picked up yesterday, Minerva," said Albus.

"Who did you pick up yesterday?" Snape asked curiously.

"Mr. Potter and a Ms. Austin," Professor McGonagall replied.

"POTTER!? Snape gasped. The word Potter never failed to arouse hate in every part of his being. "You called me here to talk about Potter? What are you playing at Albus?!" he spat.

"Calm down Severus, I have other things to discuss with you," the headmaster replied calmly. "Well Minerva? What did you think of them?"

"Well Potter was understandably excited about everything and kept asking questions the whole time where as Ms. Austin was very well mannered girl and certainly not as talkative as Mr. Potter was. Though when the girl joined us things became pretty stressful," she said remembering their bickering.

"What do mean?" he asked her.

"Oh they were just being children," McGonagall said dryly. "They have a tendency to fly at each other's throats at the slightest provocation. I suspect Hogwarts is going to endure seven years of property damage."

"Surely you exaggerate Minerva," Dumbledore said with a nervous laugh. Fighting students meant more work for him and the Weasley twins were still around.

"Well maybe a little," she admitted, "I know children and I know a trouble maker when I see one."

"Potter no doubt," Snape muttered.

"Actually it's the girl," McGonagall retorted. "She's quite temperamental."

"Gryffindor then," Snape snorted.

McGonagall just glared at Severus and Albus sat, smiling in amusement, his eyes twinkling happily.

Seeing the twinkle in his eyes McGonagall got irritated and said, "Albus I have a bone to pick with you, you have to remove Harry from Privet Drive!"

Immediately the twinkle vanished from his eyes. "Why would you say that Minerva?"

"Albus, his relatives absolutely hate him. You should have seen how happy he was just to get away from them. They never even told him the truth about what happened to his parents, said they died in a car crash! He didn't know anything about himself or about the wizarding world at all!" she exclaimed.

The headmaster just sighed and said, "You know I cannot do that Minerva, as long as Harry stays there the blood wards will protect him from any person who wishes him harm."

"It may protect him from outside enemies Albus, but it cannot do anything for those inside the wards. I can't imagine how horrible it must have been for him, growing up with those awful muggles."

Dumbledore rubbed his forehead looking older than ever and said, "I'm truly sorry Minerva, but he has to stay there. It's the only place for him."

She backed down for now but made it a point to take this matter further.

Albus then cleared his throat and said, "Now the true reason for calling you both up here. I sent Hagrid today to retrieve the Philosopher's stone from Gringotts and now we have to hide it here in Hogwarts as a favour to my old friend Nicolas Flamel."

Both the Professors nodded their heads understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"I decided to use the abandoned third floor corridor to keep the stone with various protections in place. All the Professors will place their own unique protections for the stone to make it as safe as possible," Albus said.

"Headmaster, why not just hide it in your office behind powerful enchantments? After all your skill with a wand is much better than the rest of us and the stone will be under your watch all the time," suggested Snape.

"I have my reasons Severus," he said without explanation, "Well that's all for now, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow and we have to prepare the castle for the next year," he said dismissing them.

As soon as both the Professors left Fawkes let out a disapproving trill, knowing very well what the headmaster was up to.

"I know Fawkes, I truly am sorry do you really think it would be wise not to try?" said Professor Dumbledore gently stroking the phoenix smiling sadly.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry's last month with at Privet Drive was quite boring. The Dursley's were petrified of Harry now that he had a wand. They pretty much ignored him all the time and for once made Dudley do some of Harry's chores.

Even if it was a bit dull, it suited him just fine as he spent most of his time burying his nose into the new school books. He was amazed by all the different kind of spells - some which can could your hair fall off, give you boils, turn a matchstick into a needle, and make objects hover in the air and lots more. There was almost a spell for everything. There were potions for curing common cold, something muggles didn't have a cure for, a potion for getting rid of boils and pimples. He had even tried a few spells including the levitating one and found them to be relatively easy. He didn't even get tired after levitating heavy thing like his bed or table unlike when he tried them without a wand.

But he was most fascinated by the history of the wizarding world. The goblin wars, giant wars, the witch burning era, the dark ages, the necessity for secrecy, the dark lords, the famous wizards - the list went on. Half the things which were a mystery in the Muggle world were all part of the wizarding one and many famous people like Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Elva Edison and more were all wizards too, it was just unreal.

Right now he was reading a book called Hogwarts: A History. It was just as the title said, all about the history of the school. He had just started reading the first chapter of the book, which was about Helga Hufflepuff, one of the founders of the school when he checked the time and realized it was five minutes to midnight. He shut the book, turned off the light with a flick of his wrist and shut his eyes. After all tomorrow was a big day; it was the day he was leaving for Hogwarts.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **1st September 1991**

Harry woke at 6.30 AM the next morning and let a smile grace his lips. Today was the day he would finally be rid of the Dursley's and was sure they would be happy to get rid of him too. He checked his Hogwarts list once again to see if he had missed packing anything. He took Hedwig's cage in one hand, wand out in another and levitated his trunk downstairs.

Two hours later, Harry's heavy trunk had been loaded into the car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry without the fear of getting turned into a pig and they had set off amidst a depressing atmosphere.

At half past ten they reached King's Cross and Uncle Vernon dumped his luggage into a trolley and said, "Don't even think about coming back for Christmas, boy, we don't want you to corrupt our Dudley with your freakishness."

Harry snorted and replied, "I wouldn't even dream of it. Well goodbye bitches, see you next year." That said, and ignoring the splutters of rage, he rolled his trolley towards platform 9 and 10 not looking back to say bye to his aunt and cousin.

On reaching platform 9 and 10 he saw a wall with the numbers 9 and 10 on either sides of it. He remembered Professor McGonagall's instructions and took a deep breath and walked straight towards the wall, his eyes closed, praying nothing would go wrong. He kept walking and then realized he should have hit the barrier by now. When he opened his eyes he was delighted to see a scarlet engine with steam billowing out of its chimney with a large board on its side reading **HOGWARTS EXPRESS.** He turned around to see a silver archway with the words platform nine and three quarters written on it.

Harry's heart swelled, he had done it! There were a lot of people running around helping their kids load their trunks on the train, cats and rats of various colours running between everybody's legs while their owners went running after them, owls sitting on the roof of the train hooting over the chatter of the crowd, cracks of apparition sounding every few seconds, not to mention the honking of the train that resounded through the platform.

He slowly pushed his trolley towards the train levitated his trunk and Hedwig's cage on to the train and went in search for an empty compartment. He found one near the end of the train and made himself comfortable.

"Hey girl, you want to stretch your wings for a bit?" he asked Hedwig. The owl hooted in reply and Harry let her out. She immediately flew out after nipping Harry on his ears affectionately.

Five minutes before the train was scheduled to leave, he noticed a large family of orange heads noisily running on the platform hurriedly getting their trunks onto the train. The mother was crying and hugging sons and rubbing the smallest ones nose. He noticed a small girl standing next to the mother holding her hand while tears streaming down her face.

Soon the train started moving and all the parents started running with the train saying goodbye to their loved ones. Looking at them Harry couldn't help feel a little jealous, after all thanks to his relatives he never had any friends or anybody to look after him when he was sick or hurt. If it weren't for his magic, Harry couldn't imagine how bad things would be with the Dursley's.

Suddenly the compartment door opened and a tall dark boy with high cheek bones and slanting black eyes entered. "Is there anybody sitting in here," he asked.

"No," Harry replied.

"Oh good, everywhere else is noisy," he said dragging his trunk in.

"By the way, my name's Blaise, Blaise Zabini," he said sticking out his hand towards Harry.

"I'm Harry," he said shaking the boy's hand, not wanting to give his last name knowing how people reacted to him being Harry Potter.

Zabini raised his eyebrows at the lack of his last name but didn't say anything and sat down opposite Harry.

They both sat silently just staring out of the window observing the scenery outside. The compartment door opened again and a very familiar voice said, "The very first compartment I find empty and you have to be in it don't you?"

"Pleased to see you too Austin," replied Harry smirking. Seeing Zabini's questioning look Harry introduced them, "Zabini this is Freckles Mary Austin, Freckles this is Blaise Zabini."

"Please don't call me that," she said sourly. "My name is Lillian Mary Austin," she said holding her hand out to Zabini. "Don't listen to this guy or else you might get drowned in his lack of common sense."

Zabini just grinned at Harry and shook her hand, "Pleasure to meet you Ms. Austin. Are you two friends?"

"Debatable," Harry said smirking.

"We meet when one of the Professors came to take us to Diagon alley," Lillian informed him.

"Both of you are muggleborns then?" Zabini asked, noticing the muggle attire on them.

"No, my parents were a witch and a wizard, but I was sent to live with my muggle relatives when they died," Harry replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said looking awkward.

"What about you?" he said looking at Lillian, who stowed her truck under the seat and sat down next to Harry.

"My dad's a muggle through and through, I don't know about my mum though; she died when I was little."

"I'm sorry for your loss too," Blaise said wincing. "Is there any way for me to stop putting a foot in my mouth?"'

Lillian laughed. "Don't worry about it," she said warmly.

"You could try and shove it up your arse instead," Harry said.

"Be nice Potter," Lillian snapped.

"It was a joke Freckles. Don't you know what jokes are? Or is there air between your ears instead of brains," he retorted.

"Potter? You're Harry Potter?!" exclaimed another voice near the door cutting out Lillian's response.

Three heads turned towards the door and saw a tall lanky boy with orange hair standing near the doorway looking at Harry in awe.

Harry raised an eyebrow looking at the newcomer warily.

"I'm Ronald Weasley," he said grasping Harry's hand and shaking it vigorously before squeezing himself beside Blaise. "Do you have the…, you know the scar!" he asked eagerly.

Harry just sighed and pulled his hair back to reveal the lightning bolt shaped scar above his left eye.

"Wow," Ronald exclaimed his eyes wide in awe, "Do you remember anything that happened that night? When You Know Who killed your parents?" he asked excitedly. He had grown up hearing the most amazing stories about the triumph of the boy who lived and he was eager to hear it straight from the legend himself.

Harry, who was now getting really irritated, replied coldly, "Yeah I do, I remember Voldemort coming into my room with his wand in his hand, he then pointed his wand at me and then shot the killing curse at me but I raised my hands caught the curse and threw it back at him and he died in a huge explosion, I got this scar when a shard of devastating magic hit my forehead and then I fainted because I was magically exhausted."

All this time Ron was hanging on to every word Harry said while Lillian was trying to control herself from laughing out loud. Blaise was giving a look to Harry which clearly said what a load of crap.

Then Ron spoke again, "Wow, that's so cool! So that's what happened huh."

"Of course not you dolt! I was a year old when it happened, do you really think I'd remember it!" Harry snapped, feeling disturbed at the redhead's obsession with him.

This time Lillian couldn't control herself and burst out laughing while Blaise looked amused by the redhead's embarrassment.

Ron blushed, feeling self-conscious and nervous now. "Oh, yeah cool," he said quietly.

There was silence for a couple of minutes before Ron spoke again, "I t-think I better go, my brothers will be wondering where I am." And then he practically ran out of the compartment.

"Yeah, just don't bring them back with you," Harry muttered after he left.

Blaise snorted and said, "Well that was hilarious."

"Honestly Potter, you didn't have to be so hard on him. He was just excited you know, meeting the great Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and hero of the wizarding world!" Lillian mocked.

"Shut it, Freckles," Harry muttered.

"Aw, is the living legend annoyed?" she teased.

"The living legend wants to kick you out of the compartment right now."

"Why don't you try it dickhead," she said. Lillian was always up for a fight. It was what got her kicked out of her first primary school.

"As much as this amuses me, why didn't you tell me who you were, Harry?" Blaise asked, cutting in.

Harry had the grace to look guilty and said, "I didn't want you to react like that redhead did. I hate people like that."

"It's alright, and just to let you know I wouldn't have reacted like that, we pure-blooded Zabini's take pride in being able to control our emotions," Blaise replied.

"Pureblood?" Lillian asked confused.

"Yeah, those whose parents are from a proper wizarding background are pure-blood's, those with one parent who is muggleborn are half-blood's like Harry and those who come from a family whose parents are muggles are called Muggleborns like you," Blaise informed them.

"How does it matter, being a pure-blood or a half-blood or a muggleborn?" Harry asked Blaise, bemused.

"It does," he said seriously, "the wizarding world is racist and muggleborns are not treated the same as purebloods, they are looked down upon and not given the same rights as a pureblood or even a half-blood."

"So how do you know I'm a half-blood," Harry asked him.

Zabini just rolled his eyes and said, "Just open any history book about the dark lord and it'll give you a detailed history about you and your parents past. Your father was a pureblood and mother was a muggleborn."

"So because I might be a muggleborn, I'm going to be treated like crap?" Lillian asked him indignantly.

Blaise nodded his head.

"What about you," she asked him coldly.

"Honestly, I don't care, my mother was always careful to avoid such topics since we don't support either group. It would only create more problems if we took a side," he said shrugging.

They all fell silent after that, each one immersed in their own thoughts.

At around half past one, a loud clattering sound was heard outside and their compartment door was slid open. An old lady smiled and asked, "Anything from the cart, dears?"

Three wide eyed heads nodded vigorously and bought almost all the goods available on the cart. Harry was fascinated by the various candies lying around. There were Bettie Bott's every flavour beans, Drooble's best blowing gum, chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, Licorice wands, and a number of strange things he had never laid eyes on.

The dull conversation was forgotten and they all were trying out all the sweets laughing and having fun experimenting with Bettie Blott beans.

Lillian was opening one of the chocolate frogs when a card fell out and the frog suddenly leaped out and almost jumped out of the window when it was caught by Harry immediately and he quickly bit into it.

"That was mine you know," Lillian said, glaring at him.

"You lost it and I caught it," Harry said smartly. "Honestly Freckles, you should stop glaring so much or it will become a permanent feature on your ugly mug."

"Will you stop calling me that stupid name!" she said irritably.

"Then what should I call you, I can't keep calling you Ms. Austin can I?" he shot back.

"Well my friends call me Mary, but wait! You're just a pain in my arse so you call me Ms. Austin, get it scarhead?" she said loudly, poking him in the chest with each word not realizing that they both had stood up.

"I'll call you whatever I want _Freckles_ ," Harry fired back poking her on the forehead.

"Don't you understand how I hate that word," she screamed pulling out her wand and pointing it towards Harry. Seeing her pull out her wand Harry pulled out his own and pointed it towards her.

Blaise, who was enjoying the show up till know realized an interruption was required or both would end up in the hospital wing before the sorting would even start. "Hey, hey calm down! No need for wands for something this trivial!" he said stepping in between them pushing them back to their seats. "You don't want to be expelled before you reach the school do you?"

Both nodded their heads still glaring at each other.

"Good, then keep your heads down and don't look at each other until we reach the station. Honestly such a fight over one chocolate frog," he said shaking his head. "So, Harry. Which house do you think you'll be in?" Blaise asked him trying to lighten their moods.

"House? What house?" Harry asked Blaise confused.

"Oh for heaven's sake Potter, didn't you read the books the Professor got us!" Lillian exclaimed. Harry was about to reply when Blaise quickly cut in before another argument took place.

"What do you think, Austin? Which house will you be in?" he asked her.

"I think maybe Ravenclaw or even Gryffindor, what about you?"

"Slytherin or Ravenclaw. All mother's side has all been in Slytherin so I doubt I'll go anywhere else," he said.

"Will somebody please explain me what are you talking about," Harry said feeling left out.

"There are four houses in Hogwarts Potter - Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Each house has its own personality types. Gryffindor is meant for the courageous and the daring; Slytherin is for the cunning and shrewd; Ravenclaw for the intelligent and Hufflepuff for the most loyal. Based on your qualities you are sorted to one of the houses," Blaise told Harry.

"Oh," Harry said frowning pensively wondering which house he would be sorted in. "So how do they sort the students?" he asked Blaise.

"I donno, some sort of test I suppose, my mum wasn't telling me, said it would be a surprise," he replied.

The compartment door was slid open again and this time a girl with alarmingly bushy brown stood there. "Has anyone seen a toad, Neville here has lost his," she said in a bossy voice pointing towards a frightened looking boy standing behind her. Both were wearing their new Hogwarts robes.

All three sitting in the compartment said no.

The bushy haired girl sighed and said, "Well if you see one, hold on to it and give it to Neville here later. Oh and you should change into your Hogwarts uniform you know, I asked the conductor up front and he said we'll be there in about 20 minutes."

Saying what she came to say she turned back and went out of the compartment along with the boy who just followed her looking miserable.

Looking at each other, bemused the interruption. "She's right, the trains slowing down we better go and change," Lillian said. She opened her trunk took her robes out and went out of the compartment.

Both boys took out their robes and quickly changed as soon as they were done a voice echoed through the train, " _We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."_

The train slowed down rapidly and then came to a stop. Teenagers rushed out of the train onto a dark platform. Blaise shivered and looked at Harry and said, "Aren't you c-cold! It's practically freezing out here!"

"Is it?" Harry asked him frowning, "I don't feel cold at all, it's rather pleasant actually."

"Firs' years! Firs' years! Over here," came a booming voice from the other end of the platform. Harry walked towards the voice and then saw the largest man he had ever seen in his life. He was at least 8 foot tall, had a thick beard and friendly beetle like eyes which were brimming with warmth and kindness.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Alright then me name's Hagrid and you lot gotta follow me, and mind yer step, yeh should be able to see Hogwarts over this bend now."

There was a loud oohhhhhh and a gasp which Harry recognized as Lillian's, as Hogwarts came into view. It certainly was a majestic sight; a huge stone castle on a hill across the lake with lights shining inside it. It had a very homely and welcoming feel to it.

"No more'n four to a boat," Hagrid shouted over all the heads pointing towards a fleet of boats. Harry and Blaise got into one followed by Lillian and the bushy haired girl. Harry couldn't resist and said, "Hey, Austin, why are you following me around like a puppy." She didn't respond, she was spellbound by the beauty of Hogwarts. Harry frowned at the lack of response then shrugged his shoulders and turned his gaze back at the castle.

The boats soon came to a stop at the end of the lake and Hagrid lead them to the huge oak front door of the castle and knocked with his big fist three times.

The doors immediately swung open and there stood Professor McGonagall in emerald green robes. She told the first years to follow her in a no-nonsense voice and walked towards another door across the hall. She then stopped and turned towards them and spoke:

"Welcome to Hogwarts, the start of the term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingering on Ron's dirty nose and Harry's hair before walking back into the great hall.

Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair, while Lillian smoothed her robes and Ronald was rubbing his nose trying to get rid of some dirt on it.

"I wonder how we get sorted." Neville asked Ron.

"My brothers told me we have to fight a troll and depending on how we fight we get sorted," Ron whispered back. Those in hearing distance paled at his words.

"Don't be silly, Ronald," came the bushy haired girl's voice, "Maybe it will be some sort of written personality test or a quiz of your knowledge of spells."

Her opinion didn't make anyone feel better.

Professor McGonagall came back and beckoned them inside. Harry's stomach turned to lead as he walked inside unable to cast his fear aside. There was a gasp as everyone walked into the great hall. There were thousands of candles lit, which were floating in mid air, illuminating the whole hall. There were also four tables lined with golden plates, spoons, forks and of course, students.

Mainly to avoid all the stares he looked up and was surprised when he saw a velvety black sky dotted with stars instead of the roof. He then heard the bushy haired girl whisper to Lillian, "The ceilings bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read it in Hogwarts: A History."

He looked back down again as Professor McGonagall brought out a stool and placed a dirty, worn out, black hat on it. Suddenly the hat twitched, the rip near the brim opened and the hat began to sing:

 _"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindor's apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuff's are true and unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The entire hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song and bowed to all four tables. Harry was relived, all they had to do was try on a hat and they would be sorted.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward and said, "When I call out your names step forward and put on the hat to be sorted." She then unrolled a long piece of parchment and read:

Abbot, Hannah!

A pink faced girl with blonde pig tails came stumbling out of the line and put on the hat. After a moment's pause it yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right erupted in cheers as she ran towards it.

Austin, Lillian!

Lillian walked smartly up to hat and put it over her head. Two minutes later it screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Pleased, she ran to the table on the extreme right which had erupted in loud cheers as they welcomed the first new Gryffindor.

After Susan Bones was sorted to Ravenclaw, Hermione Granger, the bushy haired girl and Neville Longbottom went to Gryffindor which surprised Harry considering how scared he looked. A Draco Malfoy was sorted to Slytherin within milliseconds and finally, it was Harry's turn and he was quite nervous.

When McGonagall called his name, he walked up to the chair and placed the hat over his head which fell over his eyes blocking the view of everything outside. Suddenly a voice spoke in his ear. " _Hmmm, difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent and Oh my! So much power! There's also a nice thirst to prove yourself, and a lot of wit I see, also quite loyal to your friends but will not hesitate to hurt them if they hurt you! Hmmm… long time since I've seen one with all four qualities in abundance. Well boy you don't have to say anything do you?"_

Five minutes had passed and people started whispering as to what was taking so long? The professor sitting in the centre of the teachers table leaned in front, looking forward to this sorting.

" _Just put me in any house,"_ Harry thought frantically wondering what would happen if the hat didn't sort him _._

" _No preferences at all then? Ok then… oh wait! I didn't see that talent of yours! Well now there's no doubt as to where you should go boy,"_ the hat said in his ear before shouting out loud.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The table on the extreme left exploded with the loudest cheers yet and Harry oblivious to all the looks of shock and surprise he was getting from the other house tables hurried towards the Slytherin table happy to be sorted and not left out.

Back at the teachers table a pair of eyes widened in surprise and the other in disbelief.

Finally Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin who quickly went and took a seat next to Harry, who was happy to have one familiar face in his new house. Professor McGonagall then rolled up her scroll and took the stool and the sorting hat away.

The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet and said, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, now before we begin our feast I would like to say a few words and here they are; Nitwit, Blubber, Pizza and Pie! Enjoy your feast."

"Thank you!"

He sat back down as everybody cheered and laughed. Harry looked at Blaise uncertainly and asked, "Is he mad?" Blaise shrugged and said, "I guess he might be a little crazy, but he is the most powerful wizard in the world."

Someone tapped Harry on the shoulder and he turned back to see a boy with slick blonde hair, grey eyes, with an arrogant expression on his pale face. He was flanked by the thickest and meanest boys he had ever seen of their age. The blonde stuck out his hand and said, "Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, pureblood and heir to the Malfoy fortune."

Harry looked at him wondering if what he said was supposed to mean something to him but shook his hand nonetheless and said, "Pleased to meet you."

"You would want to come and sit with the better people in the Slytherin house Potter, ones who can give you what you need. Not with the likes of someone like a Zabini," he said sneering at Blaise whose expression remained neutral.

Harry looked at Blaise and back to Malfoy and said with no emotions showing on his face whatsoever, "Thanks for your offer, but I think I'm fine here, thanks anyway." Malfoy looked back at Harry and stared at him for a few seconds before nodding and walking back towards his seat.

"What was that all about?" he asked Blaise.

Blaise just shrugged and said, "Tell you later."

Suddenly the empty gold plates, goblets and bowls were filled with food and juice. Harry, who hadn't realized how hungry he was, started taking a bit of everything within his reach. Blaise looked at Harry in amusement, "Hungry are you?"

"Starving," he replied stuffing his mouth with mashed potatoes. Blaise grinned back at him and started filling his plate too.

After eating his fill Harry was starting to feel sleepy and looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw Lillian and Hermione talking to the Gryffindor prefect. The Weasley boy and the other new first year boys were talking to the resident Gryffindor ghost. He looked to the head table and saw Hagrid drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Another Professor with an absurd turban on his head was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin.

It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past the turban straight into Harry's eyes and a sharp, hot pain flashed across the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.

"What's up Harry?" Blaise asked looking at him in concern.

"N-nothing."

The pain went as fast as it came. He got a feeling that the greasy head teacher didn't like him very much.

"Hey, Blaise," Harry said. "Who's the teacher next to turban guy?"

"That's Professor Snape, Harry. He's the head of our house. He's supposed to be really strict and dangerous to mess around with," he said eating one of the chocolate pastries.

"What does he teach?"

"Potions."

Harry looked back at him trying to catch his eye, but he didn't look at Harry again.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again.

The hall fell silent.

"Just a few more words now that you're all fed and watered. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed towards the Gryffindor table.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind all of you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested to play should contact Madam Hooch. Also this year the third floor corridor is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Finally I must welcome Professor Quirrell to the defence against the Dark Arts post."

There was polite applause as the man with the turban stood up.

"Alright then, first years follow your prefects back to your common rooms, off you trot!" the headmaster said his eyes twinkling happily.

The Slytherin prefect was a tall bulky fifth year named Marcus Flint. The first years followed him down into the dungeons until they suddenly stopped in front a bare damp stone wall.

"This is the entrance to the Slytherin common room and the password is Victory." The wall slid open and they entered the common room.

The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and there were several high-backed chairs, green sofas and a few large silver pillows which were just floating about, waiting to be plucked out of the air by those who wanted it.

The prefect motioned them to the centre of the common room. "Right, now listen up you lot. There are some ground rules in the Slytherin house which should never be broken whatever happens.

First of all being a Slytherin basically means you're hated by the rest of the student population by default. Slytherin's and Gryffindor's hate each other on principle. So you better stick together wherever you go and never ever tell on your fellow house mates or there will be consequences.

Secondly, if you feel sick or have any problems with any other student of the other houses go and meet Professor Snape immediately, he will help you.

Thirdly, if there's a fight or anything against the rules happens around you, get out of there or else the blame will fall on you whether it was your fault or not. And finally, our unofficial rule is to inflict pain to the Gryffindork's at every chance you get," he said grinning nastily.

"Regarding your sleeping arrangements, each room has two beds so you can choose your roommate and make your way to any of the rooms in the first year dorm.

Now Professor Snape will want to talk to you for a bit and then you can go to bed."

The moment he finished his little speech, the entrance to the common room slid open and in walked the hook nosed Professor exuding an air of authority.

"Have you explained the rules to them, Flint?" he asked the prefect.

"Yes, Professor."

"Good, you may leave."

The prefect nodded and went up the stairs to his own room.

Professor Snape looked at each of them in turn and said, "All I am here to tell you is that if you have any problems adjusting I am there to help you and guide you. I expect each one of my students to do their best in class _and_ I do not tolerate rule breaking," his eyes lingering on Harry's as he said that. Harry gulped but stared back unwilling to flinch under his gaze.

But the Professor broke off his gaze and continued, "Tomorrow morning I will be giving you your respective timetables and I expect you to be on time for every class. Is. That. Clear?"

Nine heads nodded quickly not wanting to anger their head of house.

"Very well, you may leave," he said and walked out of the common room, his robes billowing behind him.

As soon as he left Harry let out a sigh of relief and followed Blaise to their new room. They entered a room at the end of the first year dorm and gasped at the size of the room.

There were two huge four poster beds at opposite ends covered in silver and green hangings, two beautifully furnished tables and chairs and a door leading to their own bathroom. There were two windows and when they looked out they were surprised to see that their rooms were just a few meters above the backwaters of the lake which was gently rapping the castle wall.

Harry was amazed. He looked at Blaise who had an equally amazed look on his face and said, "Wow."

"Wow is right, I'm taking the left side!" he yelled and ran towards the bed closest to the window. Harry ran and tackled him before he could reach it.

After 5 minutes of tossing, turning, yelling and laughing Blaise was sitting on the bed near the window and Harry on the other giving him dirty looks. Blaise grinned at him and they both started laughing uncontrollably.

"Let's go to bed, we've got class tomorrow," Harry told Blaise once they had gotten control of themselves. Blaise nodded and they changed into their night clothes and bid each other good night and fell asleep as soon as they hit their pillows.

 **Gryffindor First year boy's dorm**

Ronald Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan were sitting talking about the boy who lived.

"Surprising eh?" said Seamus, "The boy who lived in Slytherin."

"Yeah, I thought he would be in Gryffindor, defeating You Know Who and all that, you know," Dean said.

"I'm not surprised," Ron said darkly. He had not forgotten the humiliation he had felt after meeting Harry Potter.

"Why not? It's Harry Potter!" Neville squeaked.

"I met him on the train. Just went to say hi," he said lowering his voice, "There he was sitting and laughing with this other Slytherin. That new Gryffindor Austin was there too and now that I think about it, I think she was under some kind of a spell. I looked at him and there was this gleam in his eye and before I could say anything there was a wand being pressed against my head!"

All three other boys gasped and Ron paused for the effect. He then took a deep breath, "He then whispered in my ears that unless I wanted my brains splattered on the wall or my eyeballs rolling on the floor I better get out and get out fast."

All the boys shuddered and Neville looked like he might wet himself.

"I then ran as fast as my legs could take me away from that compartment," he finished.

There was silence for a couple of minutes which was broken by Neville, "But why? Why would he do that?"

"He's a dark wizard Neville, that's why," Ron said softly. Ron was notorious for making up stories to get back at his brothers back home.

"Makes me wonder how he got rid of You Know Who," said Seamus.

"I think we better go to sleep guys, tomorrows a big day and this talk about Potter gives me the creeps," muttered Dean.

They all nodded, went to their respective beds and feel asleep.

That night the stars twinkled brightly in the clear black sky, as if celebrating the start of a new term. The wind blew ripples in the lake and made trees near the edge of the forest rustle and everybody in the castle slept soundly and peacefully. And then there was a wizard. A wizard moved quietly and swiftly in the shadows towards the third floor corridor, his red eyes gleaming in the dark.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Classes and a Troll**

 **10th October 1991**

Whispers seemed to stalk Harry wherever he went. Whether it was to the common room or to the classrooms, students shamelessly tried to get a good look at his scar and a few others actually stopped him and requested him to show it to them. During meals half the student population would stare at him as if he were a reincarnation of Merlin himself.

"Honestly Blaise what's with all these people wanting to stare at my scar all the time? Don't they have anything else to do?" he told Blaise irritably.

"Well," he drawled "You are the… … wait… … Oh, so famous boy who vanquished the greatest dark lord ever to walk upon these lands, not to mention a Slytherin to boot. Obviously they're going to want to look at you. I wouldn't be surprised if some came for your autograph next."

"Oh please! I would rather kiss the giant squid than give out autographs," Harry exclaimed.

Blaise sniggered, "I think that can be arranged very easily."

Harry just gave him a look that promised death and torture in the future. "Come on or we'll be late for transfiguration. You know how McGonagall is about punctuality," Harry said walking faster towards the transfiguration classroom.

Five minutes later the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's were seated in the class room away from each other. McGonagall was as usual in her animagus form waiting for the class to settle down. As soon as the class settled in she transformed and began in her usual stern voice, "In today's class, we will be starting practical transfiguration."

The whole class burst into excited whispers, most of them coming from the Gryffindor's. A glare from McGonagall silenced the class instantly.

"Until today you have been studying the theory behind transfiguration _which_ is very essential for today's class. Now keeping in mind what I have been explaining to you for the past few days, you will transfigure a match stick into a needle."

She waved her wand and immediately a matchstick materialized on every bench. "You may begin. The incantation is on the board and if you are having trouble I am here to help."

Harry pulled out his wand smoothly and pointed it at the matchstick. He stared at it hard and muttered the incantation but nothing happened. He frowned and said the incantation again with a flick of his wand. Nothing changed again. He tried once more but without any success.

Harry sighed and looked around the room, everyone was saying the incantation out loud but there was no change in their matchsticks. Neville Longbottom had somehow managed to blow his face up, Blaise was poking his matchstick looking bored, Weasley was jabbing his matchstick hard with a worn out wand and Lillian had her face screwed up in concentration and kept muttering the incantation. Only Hermione Granger from Gryffindor had managed to change a small part of matchstick into a needle and was looking quite pleased with her accomplishment.

"If that Granger girl could do it, it's a bloody shame I can't do it yet," he muttered to himself turning back to his work.

After about six to seven tries latter Harry had only managed to change the tip of his matchstick to a pale silver colour. He glared at the matchstick and dropped his wand on the table, frustrated. Even Lillian had managed to change half her matchstick into a needle and kept giving Harry superior looks which irritated him to no limits.

"Ok, Harry calm down," he said to himself "This matchstick is not a matchstick but a needle. It needs to be changed back to its original form." He looked at the matchstick and imagined it from all angles as a needle and not a matchstick. He imagined the difference in the properties of a matchstick and a needle as McGonagall had lectured them and visualized it transforming in his mind. Keeping the image of the needle fixed in his mind he closed his eyes and said the incantation softly pointing his wand at the matchstick. Two seconds later he opened his eyes and saw a perfect needle in front of him. He smiled in satisfaction and tried to change the needle into a matchstick following the same process.

Fifteen minutes later he was changing his matchstick into a needle and the needle back to a matchstick as fast as he could. He kept trying to do it faster and faster.

He was broken out of his little game by the stern voice of Professor McGonagall, "What do you think you are doing Mr. Potter?!"

"Err trying to see how fast I can transfigure the matchstick into a needle and the needle back to a matchstick, Professor," he said wondering if he had been doing it wrong.

McGonagall gaped at him.

"My word, never has anyone changed their matchstick into a needle in their first class, forget back into a matchstick!" she said looking shocked.

"You are as talented as your father was during his time at Hogwarts Mr. Potter. 30 points to Slytherin," she said, a rare smile gracing her face. None of them noticed the jealous look on Hermione's face or the look of disdain on Ronald Weasley's.

Blaise nudged Harry and said, "Great going mate, think you could give me a hand?"

"Sure, why not," he said moving over towards Blaise.

By the end of the class only Hermione had managed to transfigure her matchstick into a needle and earned 10 points for her house.

As everybody was moving out of the class someone nudged Harry hard in the ribs and muttered something like evil and dark.

"Who the hell was that?" Harry asked Blaise rubbing his ribs.

"Weasley," Blaise said, darkly.

"What the hell is his problem with me?"

"Donno, but you should see the way he looks at you."

"What about it?"

"It's like he would like nothing better to do other than seeing you dead or pull out your intestines with his bare hands and then munching on them as he sees your body convulsing on the ground," he said making weird gestures with his hands.

Harry grimaced, "That's… just sick. What kind of a mind do you have Blaise?"

"What! It's true! You should just make eye contact with him and you'll see what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah whatever, come on we've got potions in a half hour."

 **Potion's Laboratory**

"Today you are going to learn how to make a simple potion to cure boils. This will be the first time you will be brewing a potion and I expect it to be flawless," Professor Snape said, his voice barely audible yet clear as crystal. "I do not want any mistakes or else there will be severe consequences."

All the Gryffindor's exchanged fearful looks. Neville looked petrified.

"Weasley," Snape called suddenly, "What would I get if I added a powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood."

"Erm... err…. I don't know sir."

"This… will not do, haven't you been listening in my classes Weasley? 10 points from Gryffindor. Now let's try again, where would I look if I wanted bezoars?" he said looking straight into Ron's eyes.

"I d-don't know s-s-sir," he stuttered.

"Stuttering will not help Mr. Weasley, didn't think you would revise and come to class did you? Hasn't your mother taught you anything? That's another 10 points you've lost," he said sneering at Ron.

Ron just turned bright red and glared at Snape.

"That's 5 points more gone for Gryffindor and a detention for that look on your face," he said smirking at him.

All the Gryffindor's gasped in outrage.

Suddenly he turned towards Harry, "Potter, same questions."

"Sir, we would get the draught of living dead if we added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood and we can find bezoars in the stomach of a goat," Harry said without missing a beat.

"That's what I expect from my Slytherin's," he said coldly, "another question Mr. Potter, what do we use boomslang skin for?"

Harry thought for a moment and replied, "I don't know sir. I do not remember reading it in our potions text."

"You're right it is not there in your normal text books but that is no reason not to read ahead Potter," Snape said softly. "However since you answered your previous questions satisfactorily, twenty points to Slytherin."

He tapped his wand on the board and said, "The instructions for the potion are on the board, you have two hours."

Immediately everybody moved towards their cauldrons and started removing the ingredients required.

About two hours later, Harry's potion had a dark blue colour when it was supposed to be a light blue colour. Professor Snape walked past Harry's table and looked into his cauldron. He then looked into Harry's eyes and stared without blinking or moving. Harry had to suppress a gulp and prevent himself from wiping the sweat of his forehead, but he didn't avert his eyes from the professor's eyes. About a minute later Snape finally stopped staring and said, "Acceptable Mr. Potter," and moved to the next table.

Blaise nudged him and asked, "What in Morgana's name was that all about?"

"I honestly have no idea," Harry said. He was more fixated on why the professor had a pained expression on his face just before he stopped staring into his eyes.

As they walked out of the potions class they were approached by Malfoy without his goons behind him. "Hey Potter, I saw Weasley looking like he would want nothing better that to see you dead."

Harry didn't like Draco much but always maintained a civil conversation with him. He felt he was too arrogant and took too much pride in his name and wealth. "Yeah, I don't what that guy has against me."

"Really? That's interesting, do you want to get some pay back?" he asked Harry giving a sly grin.

Harry grinned back, "Sure Malfoy, what do you have in mind?"

"Nothing much, all we have to do is make fun of him in front of his band of Gryffindork's and the reaction will be priceless."

"That's it? Heh, I expected something better from you Malfoy."

"Oh," Malfoy said raising his eyebrows, "And what do you have in mind?"

"You'll see at dinner…. So are you in?"

"Of course, who would miss a chance to see a Weasley embarrass himself."

"What about you Blaise?"

"Leave me out of it, I'd prefer to watch and not involve myself in these little rivalries," Blaise said shaking his head.

"Why Blaise, are you scared?" Malfoy asked, sneering

"No, I just don't want to take sides. You of all people should know better Malfoy."

Before Draco could say anything else, Harry cut in.

"Drop it Malfoy, it's his choice not yours to make," he said sharply.

Malfoy turned back to Harry and looked at him strangely and just nodded after a few seconds, "See you at dinner," he said and went away towards their common room.

After he had gone Blaise turned back to Harry, "I don't know why you need to get involved with that jerk."

Harry just shrugged and said, "He'd be a useful friend to have."

"So, are you going to tell me what you have in mind?"

"What are you talking about Blaise?" said Harry trying to look innocent.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Oh just you wait," he said grinning. "Now all I need to do is find Filch."

"What? Why?" Blaise asked looking confused.

"Don't worry about it," Harry shouted back, "See you at dinner," and took off looking for Filch, a gleam of excitement in his eyes. Blaise saw him go and muttered to himself before walking back to the common room.

Soon after dinner Harry and Draco saw Ron and his friends finishing their meal and quickly went to intercept them before they left for their common room.

As they reached closer to the red head they could hear what they were talking about.

"Honestly, Snape favours those slimy snakes a bit too much!" they could hear Ron complain.

"Oh, don't be absurd Ronald; he's just doing his job. He's supposed to be one of the greatest potion masters in the wizarding world," the haughty tone of Hermione Granger remarked.

"He maybe a great potion's master but he sure is a git," Lillian said bitterly. "He took ten points from me because my hair was a mess!"

"Mary!" Hermione exclaimed, "That's no way to talk about your professor!"

"Shut it Hermione, Lillian is right, and that Potter. Thinks he's the king of Hogwarts. But I know what he really is," Ron said darkly. "He's a dark wizard and maybe the next _'you know who'_ for all we know."

Lillian snorted, "Come off it Ron, what are you saying? I know Potter and I'm sure he's no evil guy. He's an annoying cockroach but certainly not evil and definitely not the next you know who!"

"The next 'you know who' does sound promising doesn't it, Draco?"

All three Gryffindor's turned around to see who had interrupted them.

"It's a shame don't you think Harry. Accusing you of being a dark wizard and insulting our dear head of house," Draco said silkily.

The Gryffindor's eyes darkened as they saw Draco and Harry standing behind them.

"Potter," Lillian greeted coolly, "What a surprise."

"Freckles, Granger, always a pleasure," Harry said giving a mock bow. "Ah, Weasley, never a pleasure seeing you," he said smirking.

Ron's face turned bright red as Malfoy started sniggering.

"What do you want, dark wizard!" Ron spat, his eyes filled with fear and hatred.

"Me? A dark wizard?" said Harry raising his eyebrows. "And what makes you say that?"

Ron didn't say anything but continued glaring at Harry.

Malfoy choose to interrupt then, "Say Weasley, what was that professor Snape was saying in class today? Oh, yeah didn't your mother teach you anything. Is that why you eat so pathetically?"

Harry didn't say anything knowing Malfoy maybe out of line there but didn't stop him either. Malfoy continued his verbal assault until Ron finally lost his temper and pulled out his wand. Draco immediately whitened but Harry came to his rescue.

"Now Weasley you know magic is forbidden in the corridors, but if you start then I'll be forced to show you what this dark wizard can do," said Harry narrowing his eyes and trying to look more intimidating.

Ron, who was now furious, was being held back by Lillian and Hermione, snarled back nonetheless, "I can take you anytime anywhere Potter."

"Be careful of your words Weasel or you might just find yourself….. _Dead_ ," Harry said softly, aiming for the scariest tone he had at his disposal and he was desperately trying to control his laughter on the inside.

"Yeah Weasley, why don't you run back to your common room and stay there before we do something we regret," Malfoy hissed.

"Shut up, just name the place and time and I'll be there," he spat.

"Midnight, in the trophy room," Harry said right away.

"Done! Magic only and no physical contact."

Harry grinned, "Then we'll meet in the trophy room, see you at stroke of twelve and make sure you have someone to drag your mutilated body back with you," he said as he and Malfoy walked away.

As they walked back Draco turned to Harry, "You could get into serious trouble if you get caught you know."

Harry just laughed, "Draco, are you a Slytherin or not?"

"What's that supposed to mean, of course I'm a Slytherin," he said narrowing his eyes.

"Then you should now that Filch will be duelling in the trophy room instead of me and poor Weasley is going to face a _mighty_ opponent," said Harry with a satisfied look on his face.

"Nice!" Draco exclaimed.

"Yeah, that what he gets for spreading rumours about me being evil and going to kill everybody in the school. Honestly, it's really irritating when people run away from me every time they see me or keep muttering dark wizard under their breaths every time I walk past them or constantly fixated upon getting a look at my scar. It really gets under my skin," Harry said tightening his fists.

There was silence for a while after that. "You really don't like being the centre of attraction do you," Draco asked, looking at Harry closely.

"No I don't."

"Well anyway let's hope Weasley and the mudbloods get caught!" Draco said gleefully.

"Mudblood? What's that," asked Harry looking confused.

"You don't know? ….. It's a foul word for someone who is muggleborn."

Harry then remembered what Blaise had told him about how pureblood's act towards Muggleborns. He realized Draco was a typical muggleborn hating pureblood.

"I think they should kick out all the mudbloods out of the wizarding world, don't you Harry?" Malfoy asked Harry.

"I don't care what you think about muggleborns as long as you don't use that word in front of me."

"Why do you care? Oh, I see. You're friends with that mudblood Austin aren't you?" he said giving his trade mark sneer.

Harry stopped and turned towards Draco, "I said don't use that word. As for why I care, it really doesn't concern you. Now let's get going, it's almost nine."

Harry then turned back and walked away towards the common room leaving Draco behind making a note in his head to never help or ask Malfoy for help.

Malfoy stayed back for a few minutes, a pensive expression on his face before his face lit up suddenly and he walked slowly towards the common room to write a letter to his father.

Both didn't notice a man standing in the shadows, his red eyes gleaming, "He is an interesting one isn't he Quirrell," A soft high pitched voice hissed as Draco vanished from his sight.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Gryffindor common room, half an hour to midnight**

"Ron! Don't go! If you get caught you could be expelled!"

"Let go Hermione, I'm going to teach that bastard a lesson today."

Hermione was pleading with Ron not to go and Lillian was sitting comfortably in the couch watching Hermione's attempts to stop him.

"Don't just sit there Mary! Help me stop this hothead," Hermione yelled at Lillian.

"Oh for godsake Hermione just let him go and I'm going with him anyway," Lillian said rolling her eyes.

"Wait what?! Why on Earth would you want him to go and why do you want to go with him?"

"I'm telling you to let him go because he's not going to stay and I'm going with him so that I can take him to the hospital wing after Potter's done with him."

Both Ron and Hermione stared at her with open mouths wondering what she meant.

"What do you mean take me to the hospital wing," Ron said looking a little pale.

"Isn't it obvious, no matter how good with a wand you think you are, you can't beat Potter and I don't think you should try to. I'm sure you've both seen how annoyingly good he is in class," she said leaning back in the couch and crossing her legs. "But it's your choice Ron, if you go I'm coming with you, no matter what Hermione says and I want to see the castle at night."

"I don't care how strong Potter is, I'm a Gryffindor and I don't back down from a fight," Ron said looking determined, the Gryffindor in him making an appearance.

Lillian grinned, "Alright you go get beaten up and I'll take a tour of the castle."

As they walked out of the portrait hole Hermione came running after them, "Wait, wait! Have you two gone mad?"

"Go back to bed Hermione," Ron said annoyed at the girl's unwillingness to back down.

"No! You can't go! It's against the rules!"

A brain wave struck Lillian, "Hey Hermione, haven't you ever wondered what sort of activities occur during the night at Hogwarts? I mean where do the ghosts go, how does everything get cleaned, how many secret rooms are there in the castle, is it possible to sneak into the restricted section of the library and read about ..."

"Stop!" Hermione yelled looking extremely flustered. "It's against the rules and I'm sure they have a good reason!" she growled.

"Hermione, you're out of the common room, its midnight in other words night time in the castle. Don't you want to see for yourself what goes on at night rather than reading it from a book?" she said looking into Hermione's eyes.

"I-I, I don't know," she said but it was clear that she was struggling with herself.

Lillian decided to go for the kill, "You could write a book about it."

Hermione went still.

"Oh, alright let's go," she said, sagging her shoulders in defeat.

All three Gryffindor's made their way to the trophy room and wait for Harry to arrive. After waiting for ten minutes, Ron exclaimed, "Where is he? It's already five minutes past midnight!"

"Ssshhh!" Lillian hissed, "I hear something."

Immediately they all fell silent. "Come on my sweet, I know they are in here somewhere," came the sickly voice of the caretaker, Argus Filch.

"Its Filch and Mrs. Norris," Hermione gasped in horror.

"Run!" Lillian whispered and they all ran for it. They ran for their life but Ron tripped over a suit of armour which fell with a loud bang.

"Shit," he cursed and ran fast to catch up with the two girls.

"You heard the noise, didn't you Mrs. Norris! Come on after them!" Filch yelled, terribly excited about catching students out of bed.

Ron, Hermione and Lillian suddenly came to a dead end with a door in the side. "Quick, through the door!" Lillian said urgently.

Ron tried to open it but it was locked, "Oh no," he moaned, "We're doomed."

"Move aside," Hermione commanded, "Alohomora," she said pointing her wand at the lock. The door clicked open and all three of them rushed in and locked the door from the inside.

"Where are you little brats?" Filch's muffled voice came through the other side of the door, "I know you're here somewhere."

He tried to open the door but found it locked. "Must have turned somewhere else," he grumbled and decided to check elsewhere.

Lillian and Hermione who had their ears pressed against the door sighed in relief hearing his footsteps fade away.

"What is it Ron," Lillian snapped at Ron who had been tugging her shirt for the past few seconds.

She turned around to see what he wanted and froze in shock. "Err… Hermione, you better open the door or we're gonna die."

"What?" Hermione said, confused and looked back.

There was a huge three headed dog staring at them. It was slowly waking up and had drool dripping from its mouth.

"AAAHHHHHH!" all three yelled and they quickly ran out as the dog started barking like mad and slammed the door shut behind them and didn't stop until they were safely inside their common room.

They collapsed on the couch panting and trying to catch their breaths.

"That, that was awesome!" Lillian exclaimed after she had caught her breath.

"Awesome?! Have you seriously lost your sanity?" Hermione shrieked.

"Yeah it was. I mean how often does that happen to you? Getting chased by Filch, meeting a three headed dog and running for your life all in one night!"

"Hopefully never, but did you see what that dog was standing on?" said Hermione looking at Ron and Lillian.

"Yeah, it was a trap door and that was the third floor corridor which is out of bounds," said Lillian.

"That means it was obviously guarding something," said Hermione looking pensive.

"It could be that or it could also be a plot by Potter to get me killed," said Ron.

"Don't be ridiculous Ronald."

"Oh come on you two. He doesn't show up for the duel but Filch shows up who chases us to a room with a monster. How can it not be a plot to kill me! You're lucky I was there to save you!"

"Yeah Ron whatever you say. Well I'm off to bed; remind me to thank that nest head tomorrow. Come on Hermione, let's leave Ron here to his delusional thoughts," Lillian said yawning and walking up the stairs to her dormitory.

Hermione followed her up the stairs and said, "Thank Potter? You really are crazy Mary."

"I'm not crazy I just enjoy thrills."

Ron could hear them arguing as they walked up the stairs and he slowly went up to his own dormitory convinced that Harry was trying to kill him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry woke up the next day feeling refreshed. He got out from his bed and sat on the window sill looking out as the sun slowly rose over the lake remembering the times when he used to watch the sun rise when he was with the Dursley's, only this time there were no Dursley's and it felt a hundred times more wonderful.

Blaise woke up a little while later and they went for breakfast where they were joined by Malfoy and his goons.

"So do you think Weasley got caught?" Malfoy asked Harry smirking.

"I certainly hope so, oh look there he comes."

Ron walked into the great hall and headed straight to the Slytherin table.

"I know you were trying to kill me last night because you know I'm right about you!" he began, "And you should also know that your bloody three headed monster dog failed to finish me off!" he hissed.

"What are you talking about Weasley?" said Harry, genuinely confused.

"What I'm saying is your little plan to kill me failed and you better stop trying or you'll regret it," he said and walked back to the Gryffindor table.

Malfoy, Harry and Blaise burst out laughing and Crabbe and Goyle just looked confused. "H-he thought Mrs. Norris is a three headed dog!" Harry choked, holding his side, laughing like crazy.

"Plan to kill him," Draco laughed wiping tears from his eyes, "He's honestly lost his mind. I think he mistook the cat's shadow for a three headed monster! What a loser!"

Blaise was the first one to get himself under control, "Alright you guys we got flying practice with the Griff's in fifteen minutes you better hurry up."

"Yeah sure Blaise," Harry chuckled.

The Slytherin first years made their way to the ground for their first flying lesson and many were eagerly looking forward to it.

Malfoy started boasting about his flying skill and it didn't take long for all the boys to start arguing about their flying skills and talent in Quidditch. Harry, who had never flown or even heard of Quidditch, just walked quietly trying to figure out what the hell was Quidditch. He turned to one of the girls, Daphne Greengrass if he remembered correctly.

"Hey Daphne," he called, poking her in the shoulder.

"What do you want Potter?"

"What the hell is Quidditch?"

All the girls stopped and looked at him as if he had grown two sets of horns.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" he asked looking a little nervous.

"You, a boy, don't know what Quidditch is?!" exclaimed Tracey Davis, another Slytherin first year.

"No I don't," he said looking annoyed at the stares he was getting from the girls.

"It's a sport," Daphne said finally, "Played on brooms. All the guys are crazy about it, even most of the girls."

"Oh, I didn't know wizards had a sport."

"Duh, where were you all these years, living with filthy muggles?" scoffed Pansy Parkinson, a girl with a face that eerily resembled a pug.

Harry tuned red, "Would I ask so many questions if I were living with wizards."

"Oh god no! Don't tell me you are actually living with muggles," she said looking shocked.

"Yeah I am," he muttered, "and it isn't pleasant," he added.

Harry left them quickly as they reached the grounds, not wanting them to ask any questions about his life with the Dursley's and went and joined Blaise who was with the other boys.

The Gryffindor's were already there and there were about twenty brooms in a neat line on the ground.

Their teacher Madam Hooch arrived. She had short grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk. "Well what are you waiting for? Stand next to a broom and say up!"

Everybody stood next to a broom and yelled 'UP'. Harry's broom shot into his hand as soon as he said it. "Wow," he muttered. Many brooms just rolled on the ground and didn't jump into the owners hands.

After everybody had their broom's in their hands Madam Hooch corrected everybody's grip on the broom and berated Malfoy for doing it wrong all these years. "Alright, on the count of three, I want all of you to kick off the ground and fly around the pitch and come back. Do you understand?"

Everybody nodded. "Good. One, two…" But she stopped as Neville, who was nervous and scared about leaving the ground had already kicked off. "Come back here boy!" she yelled, but he went higher and higher and suddenly slipped of his broom.

Everybody winced as a loud cracking noise was heard as he hit the ground. Madam Hooch ran to him and checked him for injuries. "Broken wrist," she muttered as Neville whimpered in pain holding his wrist. She hoisted him up and turned back to the class, "Alright you lot, I'm talking the boy to the hospital wing and I do not want anybody touching a broom or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch."

After she left everybody started murmuring about Neville falling off his broom. Suddenly Malfoy started laughing and picked something from the ground, "Look, it's the thing Longbottom got at breakfast today!"

It was a round glass ball glittering in the sunlight.

"Give it back Malfoy," Ron said, holding out his hand to Malfoy.

"I don't think so Weasley, I think I'd leave it up a tree for you to get," he said sneering at him.

BIFF!

Someone punched Malfoy in the face and snatched the glass ball from him. All the Gryffindor's started laughing and even few of the Slytherin girls started giggling while Harry and Blaise just looked on amused.

It was Lillian and she held the glass ball in one hand and her wand in another. "Got something to say Malfoy?" she said raising her eyebrow.

Malfoy just held his nose and spluttered, "How… how dare you! You bitch! My father will hear about this!"

Lillian started laughing, "Running to daddy are we now you little pussy?"

Draco pulled out his wand, a murderous expression on his face, but before he could say anything Madam Hooch came back. "What is going on here!" she exclaimed.

"Malfoy tried to hit me with his broom and I punched him in self defence madam Hooch," Lillian lied quickly and tried to look as innocent as possible.

"What! The mudblood is lying!" yelled Malfoy.

"LANGUAGE, Mr. Malfoy!" she said shocked. "Mr. Potter," she said turning towards him. "Is Ms. Austin telling the truth?"

Harry looked at Lillian who had a pleading expression on her face and then at Malfoy. He remembered what Malfoy had called her and said, "Yes, Madam Hooch, that's exactly what happened."

Lillian grinned in relief and Madam Hooch rounded on Malfoy, "That's 10 points from Slytherin and a detention with Filch for assaulting a girl!"

"But he's, they're lying!" he tried to protest.

"I will not hear anything else now go back and stand next to your broom," she said in a no nonsense tone.

Malfoy went back and stood next to Harry and hissed, "Why the hell did you lie?!"

"I told you not to use that word didn't I?" Harry said coldly.

Malfoy just glared at him and didn't say anything.

"Alright same procedure, on the count of three I want all of you to kick off the ground and take a round of the Quidditch ground and come back. One, two, THREE!" Madam Hooch yelled blowing her whistle.

Harry kicked off the ground feeling the wind blow against his face. His robes were fluttering and with a fierce joy he realized flying was easy! It felt so natural to be on a broom, it was like he was born for flying.

He clenched the broom tighter and zoomed high into the air doing loops in the air, he went faster around the pitch and dove down towards the ground. He went faster and faster and didn't hear the girls scream or Madam Hooch blowing her whistle. All he knew and felt was the air swirling around him and the broom under him. He pulled out of his feet when was barely twenty feet above the ground and came to a stop next to Madam Hooch grinning like a madman.

"Are you crazy Potter!" she screamed, "You could have died!"

"What are you talking about Ma'am?" Harry asked. He looked around and saw everybody looking at him with an expression of awe and shock on their faces.

Madam Hooch calmed down and asked him, "Was that your first time on a broom Mr. Potter?"

"Yes why?"

"Brilliant," she muttered ignoring him, "Absolutely amazing. His first time on a broom, he is a natural."

She suddenly turned back to the rest of the class and said, "Alright, that's enough for today, class dismissed. Mr. Potter, please stay back."

As everybody left the grounds she turned back to Harry, "That was amazing Potter, the way you flew on the broom."

Harry just nodded wondering what she wanted.

"Tell me how did you feel when you were in the air?"

"I felt like this was what I was born to do. It was amazing," he said, his eyes shining.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant, Mr. Potter you are a natural in the air and it would disappoint me if you didn't try out for the Quidditch team next year. I'll talk to Severus and put in a good word about your flying skills."

Harry just nodded not knowing what to say.

"You may go Mr. Potter."

"Yes ma'am," he said and ran to tell Blaise what Madam Hooch had said to him. As he entered the castle he was stopped by Lillian.

"Oh it's you, what do you want?" he asked her.

"Nothing, I just wanted to thank you, you know… about that thing with Malfoy," she said.

"No problem."

"Why did you do it?"

Harry's face darkened "I don't like it when he calls muggleborns that word."

"Oh….. Cool," she said staring intently at a stop above his shoulder.

They didn't say anything for a while but just looked around.

"Great flying," she said suddenly.

"Yeah, I loved it, Madam Hooch asked me try out for the team next year," he said grinning.

"Oh that's great. Good for you."

There was another uncomfortable silence between them. Suddenly her face lit up. "Oh and thanks for last night! We had lots of fun," she said grinning.

"Fun?"

"Anyway, I'll see you around," she said quickly and turned heel and ran.

"Wha? Hey wait! What are you talking about?" he yelled after her as she ran into the next corridor. "FRECKLES!" he yelled hoping she'd come back.

He stared at the place she disappeared wondering what the hell she was talking about and was even more confused as to why she said being chased by Filch was fun?!

"Girls," he grumbled, "always acting weird."

Lillian who had just reached the portrait hole was cursing herself over and over again, wondering what possessed her to run like that! She told the fat lady the password and went to the common room to think about what she had just done only to be blasted back by the noise volume in the common room. All the Gryffindor's were cheering and clapping.

"What the bloody hell?"

"We welcome the new queen of Gryffindor!" yelled George Weasley standing on a table with his twin brother.

"Too right dear brother of mine, please welcome the one and only Ms. Lillian Mary Austin!" yelled Fred Weasley and everybody started hooting and cheering again.

"What are you on about?" Lillian yelled over the noise of everybody's cheering.

Lee Jordon came up to her and said, "Did you punch a Slytherin?"

"Yes?" she said.

"And did you get him into trouble by lying about it?" Katie Bell asked, amidst hoots and whistles.

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked them.

"What about it?" said Fred jumping down from the table.

"You have done something every Gryffindor would dream of doing," said George jumping next to his brother.

"Thus, you are now legend in the house of Gryffindor!" yelled Lee as everybody started cheering again.

Lillian started laughing, "Well let's hope this isn't the last time it happens."

George faked a tear coming out of his eye, "Fred, a girl of our own blood."

Fred patted him on the shoulder and said, "We'll have to teach her everything we know."

"Well I'm glad you all approve but I really got to go and have a bath," she said looking at everybody.

Everybody cheered once more as she went towards the stairs to her dorm and many people patted her on the back as she went. She didn't notice Hermione following her. She reached her room and collapsed on her bed laughing.

"I hope you're happy, you should be ashamed of what you did Lillian Mary Austin."

"Oh lighten up Hermione it was all in good fun."

"Fun or not, you lied to a teacher and physically assaulted a student!"

Lillian sighed, "Hermione you have got to pull yourself out of the world of books and rules and live life a little."

Hermione, who was about to scold her some more, stopped and looked at her strangely. "Oh well I hope you at least thanked that Potter for saving your skin."

Lillian stopped grinning immediately. "Yeah I did," she said, "and I don't know why I ran like a chicken after that," she added under her breath.

"What did you say?" asked Hermione.

"Nothing, nothing, I said I'm going for a shower."

"Well come out fast, we got charms in an hour."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **31st October 1991**

Almost two months had passed since Harry had come to Hogwarts and he had settled down quite comfortably in the castle. He also hadn't spoken to Lillian since the flying lesson incident and he couldn't be happier. Less contact with her was a good thing in his books.

"Hey Harry come on, let's go, the feast will be starting soon," said Blaise walking out of the room.

It was Halloween and the 10th death anniversary of Harry's parents.

"You go on ahead Blaise, I'll catch up later."

"You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure," Harry said looking out of the window.

"Alright then you better hurry up because the food is supposed to be delicious, even better than the welcoming feasts."

"Yeah cool I'll be there," he muttered having no intention of going to the feast. Blaise nodded and left the room.

Harry sighed and looked at the moon's reflection on the lake. There were a few bats hanging on the trees and he could see a few of the giant squid's tentacles.

"I miss you mum, dad," he whispered "wish you were here."

He sat on the sill for another fifteen minutes listening to the frogs croak and watched the bats and owls fly out to hunt before jumping out and deciding to go for a walk in the dungeons.

He walked out of the common room and headed in a random direction. He was so deeply immersed in his thoughts that he didn't see someone walking towards him who didn't see him either. They banged into each other and fell on the floor.

"Watch it you idiot!"

"You watch it yourself moron," Harry snapped, rubbing his forehead and looked ahead to see who it was. "Oh, hey Freckles."

"What have I told you about calling me that word!" she said angrily.

"You told me not to call you that word," he said smirking.

She took a step closer to him and said, "So why are you still calling me that name?"

"Because you don't like it?"

She growled at him and was about to retort, but Harry quickly cut in and said, "Why are you not at the feast?"

She stopped and looked at him and replied, "I didn't feel like going."

He raised his eyebrows at that and she elaborated further, "It's my mum's death anniversary," she said quietly.

"Oh..., sorry about that," he said.

"So what about you? Why aren't you at the feast?"

Harry shrugged, "Same reason. Didn't feel like celebrating anything."

Lillian didn't say anything but sat on the floor. "Sit down; we don't have anything else better to do."

Harry shrugged and sat opposite her leaning on the wall.

"Cookie?" she asked him pulling out a packet.

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Suit yourself," she said and began to eat.

"Why'd you run that day?" he asked her suddenly.

Lillian blushed, "I really don't know. It felt like the right thing to do at that moment."

Harry just sighed and stared at the ceiling. "Do you miss her..., your mother?"

"Yeah, I do but I don't even remember her so that makes it less painful, though I still look at her photographs once in a while," she said munching on her cookies.

"I don't even know how my parents looked," Harry said. "I've never seen any photograph of them."

"What! How come? Didn't your aunt ever show you any?" she said looking appalled.

Harry laughed bitterly, "Her? She hates me, no point in asking for a photo of my mum and dad in their house. I didn't even know their names until McGonagall told me if you remember."

Lillian didn't say anything but let him continue talking. She knew he needed to talk about it to somebody. "I wish I had a photo or something to remember them with."

"Your father was a chaser in Gryffindor," she said suddenly "and your mother had gotten an award for being a prodigy in charms before she left Hogwarts."

"Really? How do you know that?" he asked her surprised at that information.

"Well, your dad has his name written on one of the Quidditch trophies and your mum has a trophy too in the charms section with all the details written next to it. I saw them when you challenged Ron to a fake duel," she said grinning.

Harry laughed, "Oh yeah, so you actually went with him?"

"Yeah, wanted to check out the castle at night."

"So what happened? I mean Filch was supposed to be there but Weasley comes the next day yelling about me trying to kill him with three headed dogs," Harry said.

"He actually told you that!" she exclaimed.

"Yup, so now tell me what happened?"

"Well we went to the trophy room eagerly waiting for you to arrive but only you weren't there but Filch was! So we ran for it, we meaning me, Ron and Hermione."

"Granger was there too?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yes, don't interrupt me. Anyway so we ran for it but came to a dead end with a locked door. So Hermione unlocks the door with some spell and we go in waiting for Filch to go away. While I was busy trying to hear if Filch had gone or not Ron kept tugging at my shirt annoyingly and when I turned around I saw this huge three headed dog staring at us with drool dripping from its razor sharp, foot long teeth! We fled from that room choosing Filch over death and ran nonstop back to our common room where we finally stopped and discussed about what we had just seen."

Harry stared at her mouth opened. "So the dog was real."

"Yeah it was."

"What the hell was it doing there?"

"I have no idea but it was standing on a trap door and the door was on the third floor corridor."

"The corridor Dumbledore said was out of bounds!" Harry said realizing why it was out of bounds.

"You think it was guarding something?"

"Yeah that's what I thought. I think I'll go and ask Hagrid about it later," she said more to herself.

"Who's Hagrid?" he asked her.

"Oh, he's the game keeper, lives in the grounds in a hut. I meet him in my first week here; he's a really nice guy."

"Ok, you do that. Well I think I better go the feast I about to get over and people will have a fit if they see a Slytherin and a Gryffindor sitting opposite each other," he said standing up and holding his hand out to her. She took it and jumped up.

"Well, see you later then," he said looking at her.

She didn't reply but had a terrified expression on her face. "Hello? I just said bye to you," he said shaking his hand in front of her face.

She still didn't say anything but pointed shakily behind him. "What?" he asked again.

"L-look b-be-hind you," she stuttered.

"Huh," he said turning around. His eyes widened as he saw the largest and ugliest beast he had ever seen holding a club in its thick hands.

"Fuck!" he yelled as it raised its club ready to strike. "DUCK!" he shouted and grabbed Lillian and pulled her to the floor as it swung the club smashing it against the wall. Cracks formed all over the wall and the beast snarled.

The beast roared as it raised its club again. "COME ON RUN!" he yelled pulling her up and running away from it.

They ran hard until they came to a dead end, "Shit," Harry cursed.

"Shit is right!" said Lillian in panic, "this is just like last time only there's no Filch but a fucking troll!"

They tried to back out but were trapped as the troll came in blocking the exit.

Harry took out his wand and tried to think of a spell to hit it with but nothing came to his head. Both he and Lillian backed up against the wall, their eyes darting around trying to look for an escape.

The troll swung its club sideways but this time towards Lillian.

"Austin! Move!" Harry yelled but she was frozen in her place. Swearing, he ran and pushed her out of the way but got hit in the process and was smashed into the wall. His back and ribs exploded in pain as he crumpled on the floor.

"HARRY!" Lillian screamed, terrified.

Harry opened his eyes and saw the troll moving to hit him again; he knew if it hit him again he was going to be crushed.

"HARRY!"

Suddenly time seemed to slow down, the pain in his body seemed to be diminishing and he began to hear lots of whispers around him.

He was confused, what was going on? All the voices were whispering something similar but couldn't make out what it was.

He saw his wand lying next to him and he picked it up to defend himself from whatever was making this happen but as soon as he touched his wand he understood what the whispering was and he understood what it were trying to tell him.

Everything seemed to go back to its normal speed. He saw the troll swing the club over its head ready to strike, he saw Lillian screaming at him to get out of the way and he felt the pain in his body returning, but he just raised his wand confidently and yelled " _Eradicopectus!"_

A yellowish green light burst out of his wand and hit the troll in the chest blasting it back. It fell on the floor hard and didn't move again.

Lillian stumbled to her feet, her body shaking and ran to Harry, "Harry! Harry! Are you okay?!"

Harry felt the world and everything in it begin to spin. He tried to move but the pain was too much.

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Lillian looking concerned.

Her pretty face swam in front of his eyes as spots of darkness began to obscure his vision. "I'm fine," he muttered and lost consciousness.

"Harry!" Lillian yelled panicking, "Holy fuck! Harry wake up! Harry!"

Suddenly she heard people running towards them. Thinking surprisingly fast, she quickly stuffed Harry's wand inside her pocket and pulled out her own. She dropped it near him knowing the significance of Harry's wand and what could happen if anyone found out what it was.

The headmaster, McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell came running into the corridor.

All four stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the sight in front of them. The troll was lying face down on the floor; the wall was broken in several places and Lillian Austin was kneeling next to an unconscious Harry trying to get him to wake.

Professor Dumbledore was the first to get into action; he pulled out his wand and started waving it over Harry. "What happened? Ms. Austin," he asked her gently.

Lillian forced herself to calm down and then looked at the headmaster in the eye.

"Harry and I were talking in the dungeons and suddenly this troll shows up!" she started shakily, "it tried to hit us but we dodged and ran until we came to a dead end. It then tried to hit me but Harry pushed me out of the way and he got hit in the process."

Professor McGonagall gasped.

"He then picked up his wand and fired some weird yellow looking spell at it which blasted the troll back. Harry then collapsed and then you showed up and now he won't wake up," she said with tears in her eyes.

Professor McGonagall put her hand on her shoulder and told her not to cry and it was going to be okay.

Meanwhile Snape was checking out the troll, he looked up and beckoned the headmaster over. "What is it Severus?"

"The troll is dead, its heart has been completely destroyed, how I do not know," he said looking grim.

"You think Harry did that?" Dumbledore asked.

"I told you I don't know. But first we must take the children to the hospital wing," Snape said.

"You're right," he said turning back to McGonagall, "Professor, please take the children to Madam Pomfrey. Ms. Austin, Harry is fine. He just has a few broken ribs."

Both Lillian and McGonagall nodded. Professor McGonagall conjured a stretcher and levitated Harry into it and took him to the hospital wing with Lillian beside her.

"I'll be expecting you in my office Severus," said Dumbledore looking at Snape. Snape just nodded and the headmaster walked away.

Once everyone was gone Snape walked towards Quirrell, grabbed his shirt and slammed him into the wall, "I know you did this Quirrell, you better stay away from that corridor or you will regret it," he hissed.

"I-I d-d-don't know w-wha-what you're t-t-talking about S-Severus."

Snape just let go of his shirt and walked away.

But just before he was out of sight he heard Quirrell calling him. "And Severus, you better get that leg of yours checked, its bleeding rather badly," he said without a hint of stutter in his voice.

Snape paused, narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. He stood still for a moment, waiting for Quirrell to leave before going to the headmaster's office.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Stones and Mirrors**

 **25th December 1991**

It was 8.00 AM when Harry woke. He got up, bleary eyed and dragged his feet to Blaise's bed to wake him up too but found it empty.

"Oh yeah, he's gone back home for Christmas," he muttered glumly. "Hurray for him." He stretched his hands and yawned widely, shirking the sleep from his mind. His room was a mess and he picked out the strewn clothes and books one by one, feeling his bones creak while he bent. His diary of dark spells was stashed under the bed and everything else was dumped in his wardrobe.

Satisfied with the mild cleaning and knowing that the elves would polish the rest, he freshened up and went down to the common room. It was empty. Every single Slytherin had gone home to celebrate Christmas except for him.

He aimlessly walked around the common room wondering what to do, that is until he saw a small pile of presents addressed to him.

"Hey! I got presents!" he said surprised, "Who would send _me_ presents?" he wondered.

He picked up the first and saw it was from Blaise. He ripped open the wrapping and saw it was a book that read, 'Transfiguration and Defence for the talented'. "Wow Blaise," he said in awe opening the book and reading the contents.

He then proceeded to open the rest of the presents. The Dursley's had sent him a tissue paper. He wondered how their gift had managed to reach the school and he imagined McGonagall or Dumbledore might have had something to do with that. Draco had sent him a box of gold coloured chocolate frogs that were something like a limited edition item in the wizarding world.

There was another large box with his name on it and he was pleasantly surprised to see it was sent by Lillian. "That's a big gift," he muttered. He removed the covering and opened the box.

BANG!

Something shot out of the box and hit him hard in the eye. "Ouch!" he yelped and stumbled and fell behind. He then cautiously looked at the box from a little distance and saw a punching glove hanging out of it with a note pinned to it.

"That… that sneaky shit for brains!" he hissed in outrage. He pulled the note from the glove and began to read.

 _Hey Potter,_

 _Merry Christmas! Hope you like my present! There's a box of chocolates inside for you._

 _Cheers!_

 _MaRy_

Harry was furious with himself for not suspecting a thing when he too had sent a similar present to her. "That good for nothing bitch, she's going to pay for that. Well I hope she likes my present too and I sure as hell am not going to eat those chocolates, she might have poisoned them."

He was about to go back to his room to change when he noticed another package below the other boxes. He frowned and picked it up and opened it.

A red cloak with silver linings fell out. He picked it up and gasped in awe. It felt like water and the fabric was amazingly smooth. He spread the cloak and a note fell out.

" _Your father left this with me before he died, use it well,"_ he read it out loud. "Hmmm wonder what that means."

He tired the cloak on and went to the nearest mirror to see how it looked on him. He looked into the mirror and let out a strangled yell.

"What the hell? My body is missing!" he gasped and threw the cloak down. He looked back at the mirror and sighed in relief when he saw himself intact but now sporting a rapidly purpling eye.

He looked at the cloak curiously and picked it up and covered himself completely and looked in the mirror only to find he wasn't there. He removed and put on the cloak at least ten times before collapsing in one of the chair.

"Wow," he breathed in admiration, "It's a bloody cloak which can make me invisible! Awesome!" he said, his face breaking out into a wide grin thinking about the amount of sneaking he could do with that cloak.

He broke out laughing, gathered his gifts together and went to his room to change and head to the great hall for breakfast.

 **Gryffindor common room**

"Hey Hermione, Mary," yelled Ron, "Get down here we got presents!"

"Coming!" Lillian yelled back and came bounding down the stairs pulling Hermione along with her.

She squealed when she saw her pile of presents and immediately began ripping them open. "Come on Hermione, stop acting like a stuck up and open your presents!"

Hermione huffed and began to open her presents using her wand to remove the wrappers neatly.

"Oh for heaven's sake Hermione, just rip them open!" said Ron pulling her wand from her hand and ripped the covering of her box.

"Thanks a lot Ronald," she said gritting her teeth but smiled nonetheless.

After a few minutes of ripping and laughing and squealing, there were piles of chocolates, books and clothes lying around.

"Hey Mary, you got one more," said Hermione throwing her a box.

"Huh, it's from Potter," she said surprised.

"Why would Potter be sending you Christmas presents?" sneered Ron.

"I sent him one too," she said with an evil smirk.

"And you should have sent him something nice! Not a punching jack in the box," said Hermione glaring at her.

"Hey! I put some chocolates too! You know," she said indignantly.

"Which will ensure he stays in the bathroom for the rest of the day," said Hermione dryly.

Lillian laughed, "Oh yeah, I forgot."

Ron sniggered, "Nice one Mary."

"Thanks!" she said brightly.

"Open his present already, unlike you he might have sent something nice!" Hermione said looking annoyed at their antics.

Lillian rolled her eyes but opened the box anyway. Ron leaned over her to look into the box while Hermione just sat far from them in one of the armchairs.

POOFFF!

Brownish black smoke came billowing out of the box.

Both Lillian and Ron started coughing uncontrollably. Ron swore loudly. "What the hell is this shit!" coughed Lillian.

"I don't know," Ron coughed back.

Once the smoke had cleared Hermione came over to them looking concerned.

"You two smell horrible!" she said wrinkling her nose.

Ron eyes widened in horror.

"What is it?" asked Lillian.

"Those... those were self igniting dung bombs," he said sniffing his arm and nearly puked. "And the smell wouldn't go away for 6 hours!"

"What?" Lillian screeched. "That good for nothing idiotic brainless moronic GIT! I'm going to kill him! Oh god I stink!"

Hermione then started laughing. "Oh this is priceless," she said wiping tears from her eyes, "Both of you really think alike."

"Oh shut up Hermione Granger or I am going to hug you," Lillian said looking peeved.

That shut Hermione up real quick. "Well we better go and change and head down for breakfast."

"What?!" wailed Ron, "I'm supposed to go down smelling like thousand year old shit?" Lillian nodded in agreement.

"You can't help it, now better be a Gryffindor and change and let's go to the great hall," she said firmly.

They grumbled but went to change nonetheless. A few minutes later they were on their way to the great hall.

"So Hermione, did you find anything on Nicolas Flamel?" asked Lillian.

"No, not a thing, I've tried every book listing famous wizards in the past hundred years but found nothing on him."

"Maybe he's not famous," said Lillian.

"Maybe not, but Hagrid said he was good friends with Dumbledore so his name should be mentioned somewhere," she said looking frustrated.

 ** _Flashback_**

" _Hey Hagrid!" Lillian said cheerfully._

" _Oh hello there Mary, what brings you down here and who're your friends?"_

" _Oh this is Ron and Hermione," she said pointing at them._

" _You're a Weasley aren't ya?"_

" _How'd you know?" asked Ron looking perplexed._

" _I'd recognize the hair anywhere, besides I've spent half me time chasing your twin brothers from the forest," he said chuckling. "So what do you need?"_

" _Oh nothing just came down to have a chat with you that's all," Lillian said quickly before Ron opened his mouth and blurted out something._

" _Well that's nice off you," he said removing a kettle from the fire, "Tea anyone?"_

" _Yes please, thank you," all three said together._

 _They sat silently for a while before Hermione said, "Say Hagrid, do you know any three headed dogs living in the castle?"_

" _What? How'd you find out about fluffy?" he asked surprised._

" _Oh we saw it in the castle and it tried to eat us!" exclaimed Ron._

" _Oh don't be daft, Fluffy's harmless."_

" _Well do you know what it's guarding Hagrid?" asked Lillian bluntly._

 _Hagrid coughed and spluttered, "How... how do you know it's guarding something!"_

" _We guessed," said Hermione quickly, "Now tell us what's it guarding?"_

" _I can't, it's a secret. So how's Hogwarts treating ya," he said trying to change the topic._

" _Oh come on Hagrid! Please tell us! We promise we won't tell anyone," said Lillian giving a puppy dog look._

" _No I can't, whatever Fluffy is guarding is between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel," he said firmly._

" _Oh so there is a Nicolas Flamel involved huh," Lillian said looking gleeful._

" _I shouldn't hav' told you that," he muttered, "Oye where you three going?!"_

" _We're going to research on Nicolas Flamel! See you later Hagrid!" Lillian shouted and they ran back to the castle._

 ** _End flashback._**

"Or maybe we aren't looking hard enough," Lillian murmured, "What do you think Ron?"

"Huh, err yeah whatever you say Mary," he said hastily not really paying attention.

"Well we'll look through more books later," Hermione said sighing.

"Yeah sure, more books," Lillian said unenthusiastically.

Hermione just rolled her eyes, "I hope you two stop stinking soon, it's taking a toll on my nose!"

Lillian face darkened and she balled her hand into a fist and hit the other, "If I see that Potter now he is going to get it from me," she said furiously as they entered the great hall.

At the same time Harry entered from the other end and saw Lillian and group entering the hall. He smirked and walked in her direction. There were a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs present in the hall and no teachers had come yet.

"Oh look there he is," Hermione said pointing at Harry. Lillian looked up immediately then looked at Ron and Hermione and said, "You two go ahead I'll just come in a few minutes."

"Don't do anything stupid Mary," Hermione warned.

"Of course not Hermione," she said but held her wand inside her pocket and walked towards him.

"That purple eye really brings out the colour of your eye," she said to him sweetly. "Did you try the chocolates?"

"Oh my god Freckles," Harry gasped wrinkling his nose. "You smell horrible!" Her words were literally drowned in stink and Harry took a few steps away from her, his eyes watering because of the smell.

She clenched her jaws and her eyes radiated fury. "Care to guess why?" she ground out, through her teeth.

"Those dung bombs really bring out the colour of your freckles, Freckles," he said chuckling.

Lillian clenched her teeth in anger, "Haven't I told you not to call me that!" she said trying hard not to lose her temper.

Harry just scratched his hair and with a thoughtful look, he said, "You might have mentioned it once or twice, I don't remember what it was and would you please do something about that smell!" He smirked when he saw how angry and irritated she looked.

"Every breath I take I am reminded of this stupid dung bomb," she growled irately. "I shouldn't have settled for a punching box and laxatives."

"I knew you poisoned the chocolates!" Harry exclaimed. "You're pure evil you know that?"

She temper snapped and she reacted on instinct and her fist smashed into the side of his head. It was totally unexpected and he never expected her to react like that but on the other hand he should have expected it remembering how she dealt with Malfoy.

Throbbing pain burst forth from the spot she punched and he stumbled back feeling completely disoriented. One emotion did force its way through the pain and it was retribution. He too reacted without thinking and he punched her in the jaw, not caring that it was a girl he was hitting.

 _"Mary!"_ Hermione screamed in horror. _"What the hell are you doing?!"_

 _"Get the away from her Potter!"_ Ron yelled.

Harry and Lillian didn't hear Hermione and Ron scream. Their livid eyes had sight of only each other and nothing else existed at the moment.

Lillian jumped back up, drew her wand. "You bastard!" she spat, her common sense and self control blinded by rage. " _Tarantallerga!_ "

Harry wanted to apologize for hitting her immediately when he realised what he had done but her curse hit him and his legs started dancing uncontrollably. His temper snapped as well and he yelled, " _Furnunculus!"_ and at the same time she yelled " _Densaugeo!"_

Both spells rocketed past each other and hit the intended targets. Immediately boils started forming and breaking all over Lillian's body and Harry's front teeth began to grow uncontrollably.

" _Scabious_!" he shouted cursing her body to itch and Lillian dropped her wand and started itching herself furiously.

She groaned as she started to scratch her skin raw and Harry smiled viciously stopping the growth of front tooth. " _Pellopulsum_ ," he shouted sending the punching hex right into her gut.

Lillian went down with a groan. There were boils bursting all over her, she was itching herself like crazy and she felt the air rush out of her body when the punching hex hit her.

" _Densaugeo!"_ He cast the teeth over growth hex on her as well.

Harry raised his wand to curse her again, even though she was down, when someone yelled loudly, "WHAT IN MERLINS NAME IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Finite Incantatum," said someone else. The boils on Lillian stopped bursting, her front teeth stopped growing and the itch vanished while Harry's legs stopped dancing. He had, to his shame, not learnt the counter spell to stop his legs from dancing.

It was Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, who looked angrier than Harry had ever seen her.

"Will somebody please explain to me what is going on here?" she said, her voice soft but deadly.

"I think we should take them to the hospital wing first, Minerva and then bring them to your office," said Dumbledore his eyes twinkling in amusement.

McGonagall glared at him but nodded. "You two follow me," she said looking at Ron and Hermione. "And you two, do not expect me to levitate you so get up and move towards the hospital wing," she said sharply.

Immediately Harry and Lillian shot up, Lillian rather painfully.

In the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey was muttering about irresponsible and rash children while Harry and Lillian were sitting on the bed with their backs faced to each other.

Outside McGonagall stood in front of Ron and Hermione, "Now please explain to me how those two ended up cursing each other."

"Well professor," Ron began importantly. "We were calmly walking into the great hall when Potter comes out of nowhere and starts cursing Mary. Mary was forced to retaliate and Hermione screamed at me to find you which I did."

McGonagall looked at him in disbelief and Hermione just looked shocked. "Is that what happened Ms. Granger?"

"I… yes… I mean no, professor," she stammered.

"Then what did happen?" she said glaring at Ron.

Hermione then told her about the Christmas present Harry and Lillian had sent each other. How she swore to get back at him and who exactly started the fight.

After Hermione was done McGonagall didn't say anything but took out a piece of paper and wrote something on it.

She then looked at Ron and said, "Mr. Weasley I would appreciate it if you took a bath." Ron blushed and muttering something about Potter and dung bombs.

"Take this note to Filch Mr. Weasley. You are to serve detention with him now," she said.

"What! Why?" he exclaimed.

"For trying to get a fellow student into trouble and for lying blatantly to your head of house, now go," she said angrily. "And Ms. Granger, get back to your common room."

"Yes ma'am," Hermione said and ran back to the common room while Ron, cursing under his breath, went looking for Filch.

McGonagall sighed and went back into the hospital wing. "Are you done Poppy?"

"Of course, you can take them to the headmaster now Minerva."

Harry and Lillian exchanged nervous glances and followed McGonagall out.

McGonagall led them to her office and ushered them in. It was a rather plain office with a single table and loads of paper scattered everywhere. There was a dark green cupboard at one corner, which too looked like it was overloaded with assignments and tests. There was a door beside it, which Harry assumed was her bedroom.

"Ah Mr. Potter, Ms. Austin, please do take a seat," said Professor Dumbledore conjuring two chairs out of the thin air.

They went and sat in the chairs in front of McGonagall's table. Harry looked around and saw Professor Snape standing near him and Professor McGonagall near Lillian. He gulped when he saw the look in Snape's eyes.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something but Lillian broke in, "It's all Potter's fault sir. I'm innocent!"

Harry gasped, "She's lying professor! She started it!"

"That is quite enough, the both of you," Snape said softly and they shut up immediately.

"Professor McGonagall, would you kindly tell us what you learned from Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore asked her.

She nodded and relayed the entire incident from the incident with the Christmas gifts to the sadistic duel.

Dumbledore didn't say anything but frowned and interlocked his fingers.

"Clearly my student is innocent in this matter," said Professor Snape "He only acted in self defence."

"Really Severus, he didn't have to curse her so badly for a punch," McGonagall said defending Lillian.

"I punched her back _then_ cursed her professor," Harry said sullenly.

"You could have gone and told a Professor!" she said sternly.

Harry snorted. "And look like a weakling in front of her and two dumb Gryffindor's?"

McGonagall spluttered at the unconcealed disrespect while Snape grinned, his opinion of Harry changing for better.

"This does not change the fact that both of you duelled in the great hall and you know that duelling is strictly prohibited in Hogwarts," Dumbledore said severely.

"So as punishment I will be taking 50 points from Gryffindor and a detention for starting the fight and 20 points from Slytherin for retaliating when he could have gone to a professor."

"That's so not fair," Lillian mumbled.

"I am not done Ms. Austin," he said, the twinkle in his eyes at full blast now "You two will also be spending the rest of the Christmas vacations together."

"What?" Harry asked, not understanding the last part.

"In other words," Dumbledore continued. "You will be living together for the rest of the holidays."

"NO!" they both said together in horror. Even Snape and McGonagall looked surprised.

"Yes," he said. "Professor McGonagall, Ms. Austin is weak in transfiguration is she not?" he asked her.

"That is correct headmaster," she said, the sides of her lips twitching as she realized what the headmaster was planning.

"Very well, Mr. Potter you will be teaching Ms. Austin the subject until your punishment is over. Your food will be delivered to you inside the room and you will be allowed to leave your rooms for two hours every day to stretch your legs. It is up to you when you wish to leave. Both of you will have separate bedrooms to sleep – naturally, but will have to bear each other's company for the rest of the day," he said.

"No! Professor you can't do that!" Harry cried. "She'll kill me in my sleep! She's a monster!"

"Oh don't be ridiculous, Potter," McGonagall snapped. "She won't do anything to you, will she?" she said looking at Lillian.

"Oh I don't know professor accidents do happen," she said under her breath.

"SEE! She's already planning my horrific death!" he yelled.

"That's quite enough Ms. Austin, Mr. Potter!"

Both of them became quiet and settled for a glaring contest.

"Will my friends be allowed to visit me?" Lillian asked sullenly, resentfully accepting her fate.

"Yes Ms. Austin, they can come for half an hour at any time each day," Dumbledore said.

"Thank god for that," she said relieved.

"This is bullshit!" Harry burst out. "Why am I being punished because of her stupidity! She's the one who started the fight, not me!"

"You did send her a dung bomb as a Christmas gift did you not?" Dumbledore said. "Whether she started it or not, I think it's safe to assume you two will get into a fight in the future as well."

Harry stared at the ground angrily.

"Alright, if you'd follow me, I'll take you to your new living quarters," he said standing and moving out of his office.

He led them towards the staff room and into and abandoned class room. He pulled out his wand and began transforming the room.

After about five minutes, a dirty classroom had been transformed into a room having four comfortable chairs along with a dining table and a fire place. There was a study table in one corner and two separate rooms plus a single bathroom. It was well lit and was quite comfortable and cosy. Suddenly the arrangement didn't fell all that bad.

"This Ms. Austin, Mr. Potter will be your new rooms for the next seven days, until everybody returns. Your trunks and other belonging are already in your respective bedrooms, you can go and inspect your rooms if you wish," Dumbledore said.

They both nodded and headed towards the same door. Harry caught the handle before she did and her hand scraped his. He raised his eyebrows at her and she huffed and moved to the other room and went it.

Dumbledore chuckled. "What's so funny Albus?" McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore didn't say anything but began to count, "Five, four, three, two…" And on cue the doors opened and them both walked out, Harry red in the face. As he passed by her he muttered, "Ugly pink panties."

Lillian turned bright red and hissed furiously, "You opened my trunk!"

"How was I supposed to know it was yours!" he hissed back.

"My name was written on it!"

"Well I didn't see it!"

"I hope the rooms are fine children," Dumbledore interrupted trying not to chuckle.

"Yes sir, they're fine," Harry muttered.

"Fine my arse," Lillian said looking furious.

"Ok then, we shall take our leave while you two get comfortable. If you need anything just press that blue button on the wall. Tomorrow at 10 in the morning Professor McGonagall will come to supervise Mr. Potter teaching Ms. Austin. Have a good day," he said and walked out of the room, Professor Snape following him out.

"Professor McGonagall, will you inform my friends where to find me?" Lillian asked her.

"Yes of course," she said and went out shutting the door behind her.

A minute after the Professors left, Harry jumped up and tried to open the door only to find it locked.

"Damn, they actually locked the door."

"Of course you fool, it wouldn't be much of a punishment if it weren't," she said sinking into one of the chairs.

"This isn't punishment, this is torture," he said dropping himself into another chair opposite her. "And it is your entire fault," he added accusingly.

"My fault!" she exclaimed, "You're the one who sent me the dung bomb!"

"And you didn't send me anything did you?" he said sarcastically, "And you didn't punch me first at all!"

Lillian didn't say anything but just stared at the fireplace.

"You really wear pink underwear?" Harry asked sniggering.

"SHUT UP!" she yelled throwing a pillow at him turning red.

 **Gryffindor common room, 12.30 pm**

Professor McGonagall entered the common room looking around for Ron and Hermione and found them sitting in front of the fire place with books around them.

She walked over to them and greeted them, "Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger."

"Oh, hello Professor," Hermione said quickly shutting the book she was reading, "What happened to Mary?"

"She is serving her punishment with Mr. Potter for the rest of the vacation."

"What punishment did she get?" Hermione asked fearfully.

McGonagall smiled, "Oh nothing much, just that she'll be staying with Potter for the rest of the Christmas holidays and he will be tutoring her in transfiguration and defence."

Both Ron and Hermione had horrified looks on their faces.

"She has to stay in a room with that… with that Slytherin?!" Ron said, shocked.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley. That is what the headmaster decided."

"Can we go and see her?" Hermione asked.

"Yes you may, but for 30 minutes only. The room is next to the staffroom and the password is Peace, have a good day," she said left.

"Blimey, poor Mary," Ron said looking at Hermione.

"Well she does deserve it, more than him."

"Deserve it! Hermione, she punched a **Slytherin** who sent her dung bombs. Why would she deserve it?"

"She deserves it Ron, because she punched him first and she'd also sent him a gift equally bad as the one he sent her."

"He's a Slytherin Hermione. And Slytherin's deserve nothing better than what she did to him."

"You are a prejudiced, narrow minded idiot Ronald. Now get back and read those books I gave you. We should have a little good news for Mary when we go and meet her."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled and picked up a book and started flicking through it.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Later that day, both Lillian and Harry were sitting in their make shift common room. Harry was reading the book Blaise sent him and Lillian was eating some chocolates and writing in her diary.

She kept scribbling in her diary and occasionally stared out of the window. After a while she closed her diary started drumming her fingers on the table. She kept shifting her position on the chair and glared at Harry from time to time.

Harry for his part didn't even move. He was completely engrossed in his book and didn't even notice her making noises and glaring at him.

"This is so boring," she said. Harry just nodded.

"Aren't you bored?" Harry didn't respond.

"I'm talking to you, you know," she said getting irritated. Harry still didn't respond.

She picked up a piece of chocolate and chucked it at him but he just raised his hands and stopped it in mid air and moved it back to its box.

"How he gets on my nerves," she muttered under her breath. She then got up and moved next to him.

"POTTER!" she yelled in his ear.

This time he did respond, he dropped his book and fell out of his chair.

"What the hell do you want!" he said angrily, rubbing his ear.

"Nothing," she said smugly and went back to her chair.

Harry just growled in annoyance, picked his book up and muttered, "Bitch," under his breath but she heard it.

"What did you call me?" she said, her voice low and menacing.

He didn't bother replying again.

"I asked you a question Potter."

Still no response.

"Four eyes, scarhead, green eyed freak, slimy Slytherin, scumbag," she said trying to get him to react but he still didn't do or say anything except turn the page of his book.

She then picked up the jar of water and was going to throw it at him when it was suddenly jerked out of her hand and she was levitated into the air.

"Put me down Potter!" she screamed, "Put me down you slime ball!"

But Harry just moved her to the entrance of the bathroom with his wand, lifted his other hand and opened the door and dropped her inside. He then shut the door and murmured a locking charm.

Lillian started banging the door and screaming, "Let me out you jerk! Let me out or you're going to pay!"

Harry just smiled and continued reading his book calmly like nothing had happened at all.

After five minutes of shouting and banging she started pleading, "Potter, I'm sorry! Being locked in this room is really messing with my head! I won't bug you I promise!"

"Harry please, open the door!" she tried, saying his first name but to no avail. Inside she had a mug of water ready in her hand if he did open the door. She really was bored to death and this was the only way she could entertain herself.

Suddenly the door to their room opened and in walked Ron and Hermione.

"Oh, it's you two," he said looking up from his book.

"Yes it's us," Hermione said rather coldly while Ron just sneered at him. "Where's Mary?"

"Bathroom," he grunted.

Lillian started banging the door again, "Harry, please let me out! I swear I'll leave you alone," she begged.

"You locked her in!"

"She was irritating me," he said looking back at his book and turning the page casually.

"You bastard! How dare you lock her in, who the hell do you think you are?!" Ron yelled.

"Shut your dirty mouth Weasley, why don't you unlock the door and ask her why I did it."

Hermione pulled out her wand and said, " _Alohomora_ ," pointing her wand at the lock but nothing happened. She frowned and tried again but it didn't unlock.

"You used a different locking charm didn't you?" she asked curiously.

Harry smiled and said, "Yep."

"Well unlock the damn door then you slimy shit!" Ron sneered.

"You watch your tongue Weasel or it just might vanish one of these days," he said but pointed his wand at the lock and murmured, " _Patefacio."_

The lock clicked open and Ron yanked the door open.

SPLASH!

Ron was drenched and water spread all over the floor.

"Ron!" Lillian yelped, "Shit, I'm so, so sorry I thought it was him," she said jerking her head towards Harry who was leaning back into his chair smirking.

"N-no it's alright," he said shivering.

"Need a drying charm Weasley," Harry drawled.

"Not from you," he spat, "Hermione a drying charm please," he said looking at her.

"I don't know one," she said looking at Harry incredulously. She couldn't believe that he knew more spells than her.

"Oh come on lets go to the study," Lillian said impatiently pulling the two of them. "Please tell me you found out something, I've been dying of boredom in here."

Hermione sighed, "We, I mean, I couldn't find anything while Ron here was no help at all."

"Awesome, now what do we do?"

"I thought you could, you know ask him," Hermione said.

"Are you crazy Hermione, for all we know he might be trying to steal it!" hissed Ron.

Lillian rolled her eyes, "He didn't even know about the dog Ron. I'm sure he isn't trying to steal whatever is down there."

"What you mean he didn't know? Does he know now?" Hermione asked.

"Err… yeah, the night of the troll incident we were chatting and I told him what happened," she said running her hands through her hair.

"Why would you do that?" Hermione hissed.

"We were talking alright! And it was his parent's death anniversary! He was looking miserable!"

There was silence for a while.

"So how is it living with a Slytherin Mary?" Ron asked her.

"Yeah and why did he lock you in the bathroom!" demanded Hermione.

She blushed, "Oh yeah, about that. It was kinda my fault."

Hermione raised her eyebrow demanding a further explanation.

"I was irritating him, throwing stuff at him and yelling at him because I was bored and he wasn't responding. So I got pissed and was about to throw that water jug on him when he suddenly levitated me and locked me in the bathroom," she said sheepishly.

"He levitated you? With what spell?"

"Don't know and don't care."

"Dirty Slytherin," muttered Ron.

"Honestly Ron, you utter another word about Slytherin's and I'm going to seal your mouth," snapped Hermione said, quite irritated with his rants about Slytherin's.

"Anyway, we got to go now," Hermione said looking at the clock.

"What! So soon?"

"Yeah, sorry Mary but our half hour is up. If we don't go now we won't be allowed to visit."

Lillian sighed, "Yeah, see you later then."

"And don't forget to ask him about Nicolas Flamel," Hermione whispered.

"Yeah sure," Lillian said unenthusiastically.

"See you later Mary," said Ron walking out of the room.

"Bye Ron, Hermione," she said and shut the door.

She then went back and sat in the chair next to the fire place staring at the fire burning and crackling merrily.

"Hey Harry," she said suddenly.

"What is it now?"

"What do you know about Nicolas Flamel?" she asked holding her breath in anticipation.

"Why do you want to know about him?" he asked curiously.

"Just answer the question."

"Not until you tell me why."

"But you know who he is right?" she asked annoyed.

"Yeah I do, now why do you want to know?"

She closed her eyes for a moment and debated whether she should tell him or not.

"You remember the dog I told you about."

"Yeah," he said wondering where this was going to go.

"I also said it was guarding something."

"And you found out what it was guarding?" Harry asked sceptically.

"No, of course not, but we found out it is guarding something that belongs to a Nicolas Flamel."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Hagrid let it slip. He said whatever the dog was guarding was between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."

Harry didn't say anything but was lost in his thoughts. Nicolas Flamel is known for making the philosopher's stone, he thought. So if the dog is guarding something that belongs to him then it has to be the stone.

"Harry! You going to tell me who he is now?" she asked him.

Harry didn't reply but dug his hands deep into his pockets and pulled out a card and gave it to her.

"A chocolate frog card of Dumbledore?" she asked him uncertainly.

"Just turn it over and read it," he said.

"Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and for his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel! That's him. So he's an alchemist, what about it? How is that going to help us to find out what the dog is guarding?" she asked without stopping, the excitement evident in her voice.

"Geez, you don't read at all do you? Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the philosopher's stone," he said.

"The philosopher's stone? What's that?" she asked looking confused.

"Man, you really are useless aren't you?" he said cleaning his glasses.

"Will you just tell me?"

"It's a stone which produces the elixir of life which for your information is a potion which grants immortality and it can convert any metal to pure gold."

"Wow," she whispered.

"Wow is right and apparently Flamel and his wife are about 600 years old," he said.

"That's just unreal! The guy must look ancient!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, now you mind telling me why did you want to know about the stone?"

"We think someone is trying to steal it," she said bluntly.

"Whoa rewind, what you mean someone is trying to steal it?"

"What I mean is Hermione, Ron and I think someone is trying to steal the stone."

"So what you mean is you, the know it all and the weasel think someone is trying to steal the philosopher's stone, which has been hidden by Dumbledore under his nose without getting caught?" he said slowly.

"Yes that's what I'm saying."

"And who do you think is trying to steal it?" he asked her.

"Your head of house."

Harry stared at her and then started laughing, "And why would you think that!"

Lillian sighed looking annoyed. "Would you stop laughing?"

"Sorry, please do continue," he said still chuckling.

"Do you remember the night the troll attacked us?"

He immediately stopped laughing, "Yeah, what about it?"

"After you passed out, Snape, the headmaster, McGonagall and Quirrell came running to find the troll. But all they found was you passed out and the troll dead and nobody knows how."

"Yes, I know all that, your point?" he said impatiently.

"I noticed Snape's leg was all bloody as if it had been bitten and he was limping, and the only way that could have happened was if he were in the third floor corridor. What I thought was he might have let the troll in as a diversion and tried to steal the stone."

Harry thought over what she had just said and then replied, "I don't think it's Snape who is trying to steal it, _if_ anybody is actually trying to steal the stone."

"Why would you think that?" she asked.

"Because I've seen him with Quirrell, and half the time they're arguing over something. Snape keeps warning him but Quirrell just stammers back his innocence."

"So how does that make Snape innocent, I mean if he's threatening Quirrell then maybe he's trying to get Quirrell to steal the stone for him and how do you know all this?"

"I'm a Slytherin," he said simply, "and whatever Weasley says about Slytherin's being evil, well tell him to stuff his head down the toilet.

The reason I'm saying this is because every time I look at Quirrell my scar starts itching and he always gives me the creeps," he said a shiver running down his spine.

"Oh come on Potter, you've seen the way he is! He stutters half the time and stuffs garlic in his turban!" she said laughing.

"Appearances can be deceiving. If anyone is trying to steal the stone, it's got to be Quirrell and Snape must be trying to stop him."

"Yeah maybe, but whoever is trying to steal the stone, we got to stop them!" she declared.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there. There is no we, it's just you, Weasel and Beaver. No Potter involved, you got that?" he said firmly. "Well I'll leave you to your plotting. I've got a book to read and dinner to eat. Bye, bye," he said and went and sat on the window with his book in one hand.

Soon dinner appeared on the table and they both ate silently.

It was already night time when they finished. He had spent more than an hour talking to Austin. He sighed and went back to reading his book.

Lillian meanwhile was sitting next to the roaring fire thinking about what Harry had just said. She was so deeply lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the fire licking her hands as if it were caressing them lovingly.

But she did notice the cold December air rushing in through the window chilling her bones up and making her move closer to the fire.

"Potter, close the damn window! The cold air is freezing my bones!" she said.

"What are you talking about? There's a nice wind blowing outside."

"Well I'm feeling cold, so please shut the windows!"

"Fine, fine I'm going to bed anyway. Good night," he said and went to his room, changed and went to sleep almost the second his head hit the pillow. It had been one hell of a Christmas and he was glad it was over.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **27th December 1991**

Harry was mad, that girl had been in the bathroom for more than half an hour now and he really needed to go fast. Why the hell hadn't Dumbledore provided two bathrooms he thought irritably.

He banged on the bathroom door again, "Freckles, you better come out right now or I'm coming in regardless of your current state of dress!"

"You dare not Potter, I'm sure you don't want to see me naked," she yelled back.

"Damn she's right," he muttered to himself but yelled back nonetheless, "I don't care I'm coming in."

He moved to open the door praying that she was dressed and as he reached out to the handle the door opened and she came out her hair all wet and with a towel in her hand but fully dressed. "Jeez Potter can't you wait for a little while."

"Little while?! You were in there for almost 45 minutes!"

"Yeah, yeah and I'm out now so get in and wash yourself, I don't want to have a smelly tutor."

"Shut up," he said annoyed and went into the bathroom banging the door hard.

An hour later both Harry and Lillian were sitting at the table while McGonagall just hovered in the background.

"Alright Austin, transfigure this matchstick into a needle," Harry said removing a matchstick from his pocket.

"Yes sir," she muttered and pulled out her wand and pointed it at the matchstick and muttered it incantation half heartedly.

"Will you do it seriously, I'm not exactly having the time of my life here you know!" he said clenching his teeth. "Now, do it again."

She tried it again and again and again, but the matchstick refused to change into a needle completely.

"Alright stop," he said after fifteen minutes, "What are you thinking when you're trying to transfigure the matchstick?"

"I'm thinking about changing the matchstick into a needle."

"And….?" He asked her.

"And what? That's it. What else do I need to think about?"

Harry sighed and pinched the front of his nose, "Freckles… I mean Austin," he said hastily after McGonagall and Lillian gave him a nasty glare, "Transfiguration is all about intent, not spell work like the 'know it all' believes. You have to want to change the matchstick into a needle. You have to imagine a needle in your head. It's shape, how it looks, how it feels when you hold it and then say the incantation. Think of the matchstick not as a matchstick but a needle. All you're trying to do is change it to its original form."

All this time she listened to him giving her undivided attention and McGonagall was rather impressed by his understanding of transfiguration. Not many students were able to grasp the true meaning of transfiguring an object.

"Now try it," he said to her.

Lillian closed her eyes and did all he told her to do and then said the incantation. The matchstick slowly changed into silver but was still as brittle as wood. He waved his wand over the matchstick and changed it back into its original form and told her to try again.

After an hour of rigorous practice, Lillian had finally managed to change her matchstick into a needle and was looking pleased with her work.

"Good, tomorrow we'll work on changing it back into a matchstick and then we'll move on to bigger and tougher things," Harry said.

"Excellent work Mr. Potter," McGonagall said looking at him approvingly, "The headmaster will be pleased to know that you two are getting along fine."

"Oh, we aren't getting along at all Professor," Lillian said cheerfully, "We just make it a point to stay away from each other."

"Right, that's some improvement I suppose," she said slowly and left the room.

They did nothing for the rest of the day except get thoroughly bored and argue occasionally. Harry was almost done with his book and was practicing a few spells from it while Lillian kept walking around the room making weird noises when she passed Harry. At times she would sit and pretend playing the drums on the table and sometimes she would just stare at the ceiling lost in her thoughts.

"Catch," Harry said suddenly throwing his book at her after he finished it.

"Huh, Ahhh!" she yelped startled to see a big book coming flying at her but managed to catch it.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Read it. Maybe then you'll stop moving around making sounds like a monkey and actually do something useful."

She just gave him a nasty glare, "How I wish I could just wring his neck right now," she muttered under her breath opening the book to see what was so interesting in it that had him so engrossed in it.

Harry on the other hand just went back to his room and came out with another book titled 'The Big Book of Charms'.

"You're gonna read another book!" Lillian exclaimed.

"Yeah, and you're going to read that and not annoy me today or I'll be locking you back in the bathroom," he said. She was going to say something but Harry cut in again, "And you know you can do nothing to stop me."

She was peeved at the fact that she actually couldn't do anything to him. She sighed, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and turned her back on him and decided to read the damn book, which was named Defence and Offense. She glanced at the clock from time to time wondering when Hermione and Ron would show up. She couldn't wait to tell them all she had found out about Nicolas Flamel, but it was still was just 3.00 pm.

She sighed, folded her legs and began to read.

An hour later Ron and Hermione finally came to visit. "Hermione, Ron!" she squealed and jumped up and hugged Hermione. "Finally, you guys show up!"

"Hey Mary, how you been doing?" asked Hermione smiling.

"It's been utterly, completely and horribly boring."

"Really? I thought Potter had to tutor you and you would have been busy practicing?" said Hermione frowning.

"That was only in the morning, I've done nothing after that."

"Well you should have been revising or at least reading some books," Hermione said looking disapproving.

"Oh shut it Hermione, you're sounding like Potter now. He does nothing but read books all day. Here he gave me this book to read, check it out, I'm sure you'll like it," she said handing the book to Hermione.

"Defence and Offense," she read out loud. She then checked out the contents and her eyes widened in shock. "Mary! This is almost fourth year level transfiguration! He couldn't be actually doing this stuff!" she said in shock.

"Beats me," Lillian said shrugging, "he's done nothing but read this book and practice magic since we've been in here."

Anyway I got great news for you two!" she said her eyes glowing.

"What! Did you find out about Flamel?" Ron said finally opening his mouth.

"Yeah, and you won't believe it," she said.

"He knew didn't he?" Hermione asked her. Jealously rose in her like a poison at the fact that Harry was better than her in every field she could think of.

"Yeah, but I had to tell him why we needed to know and all the other details."

"What! Why would you do that!" spluttered Ron, "He's a bloody Slytherin Mary! And Slytherin's are always up to no good!"

Both Hermione and Mary just ignored him. "And what did he say?" asked Hermione holding her breath in anticipation.

"Fluffy is guarding the philosopher's stone."

Hermione gasped.

"So I guess you know what it is, huh?"

"Will somebody please tell me what this stone thingy is?" Ron said confused, like he always was.

"It's a stone which can produce a liquid which can make a person immortal and can turn any metal into gold," she said looking amazed.

"Wow," whispered Ron, "A stone that can turn anything to gold, anybody would want it," he said to himself, "Just imagine how rich you could get," and he was lost in his own world imagining himself rich and famous.

Suddenly Ron snapped out of his day dreaming and turned to Hermione and said, "Did you tell her about Hagrid?"

Hermione looked uncomfortable, "I don't think we should make her worry about that considering the situation she is in."

"What! What is it? Tell me Hermione," she demanded.

"Well….. You see, Hagrid err kind of has a baby dragon in his hut," Hermione said.

Lillian just stared at her mouth opened. "He what!" she shrieked.

"Yeah, but don't worry," Ron said trying to look important, "I wrote to my brother Charlie, who works with dragons in Romania. He'll be coming over tonight and take the dragon from Hagrid."

"That's great, but still where did he get the dragon from?"

"Didn't ask, we were too shocked at seeing a dragon coming out of an egg," Ron grunted.

"Ok, well you better tell me what happens tonight when you come here tomorrow, you understand?" she threatened.

"Sure, sure, we'll see you tomorrow then, ciao," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"See you later then."

Little did Lillian know that the next time she saw her friends would be only until her punishment was done with.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The week had been utterly uneventful except for Ron and Hermione getting caught in the astronomy tower after successfully giving the dragon to Charlie and his friends. They were caught by Filch. Apparently he heard a lot of noise coming from the tower and when he went to investigate he found those two standing there doing nothing, that's what he told McGonagall leading her to dock 100 points from Gryffindor and banning them from visiting Lillian.

Harry continued tutoring Lillian and they had progressed up to larger inanimate objects.

Lillian would continue trying to provoke Harry into a fight to amuse herself but he had grown immune to her taunts and just kept reading his books and kept himself busy practicing the spells in them much to her disappointment. It resulted in her doing some reading and practising magic on her own time as well.

 **10th January 1992**

It was the last day of their confinement and Lillian and Harry were sitting in their tiny common room with the headmaster.

"I hope you two have learned not to jump at each other's throats at any given time and I sincerely hope that there will be no more incidents such as this," Dumbledore said looking at them in the eye.

"It was just one incident and you all are acting like we've been doing this from day one," Lillian grumbled.

"Excuse me?" McGonagall said, shocked.

"Why are you acting like we hate each other?" she demanded. "We've been civil with each other even though we are from houses that apparently hate each other and one funny incident results in all of you behaving like we're sworn enemies or something!"

"She means to say we've learnt our lesson," Harry said hastily. "And it won't happen again."

Lillian just huffed and looked away.

"Good, the whole idea of this punishment was to make you realize that you can get along with each other if you just tried," Dumbledore said happily.

Lillian wanted to punch him as well.

"You may go back to your respective common rooms now; the train will be arriving anytime now."

"What about our belongings?" Harry asked.

"They will be in your room once you get there."

They nodded and went to their respective common rooms.

Harry slowly walked back to his common room thinking about all that had happened since he had come to Hogwarts. He had found a good friend in Blaise, an enemy in Weasley, an interesting friend in Lillian, and was Flitwick's favourite student.

His life had changed so much just by receiving a single letter. But he was glad that it had, if not he would still be stuck at Privet Drive and be attending some substandard school that they Dursley's would chose for him.

His eyes darkened as he remembered what had happened on Halloween. It had certainly been an eventful night but what had happened to him while he was unconscious made the troll attack pale in comparison.

He reached the entrance to his common room and went up to his room. He was surprised when he saw Blaise sitting on his bed unpacking.

"Hey Blaise, what are you doing back early? I thought the train wasn't due for another hour or so?"

"Oh hey Harry, I didn't come by the train, came by portkey. Where have you been? I thought you'd be in here waiting for everyone to come back?"

"My solitary confinement just came to an end."

"Say what? Care to repeat that?" Blaise said looking lost.

"I said that my punishment which lasted the whole vacation just came to an end," Harry said, making it sound like an everyday occurrence.

"What the hell! Sit and explain to me what in Merlin's name are you trying to say," he said unable to make heads or tails of what his best friend was saying.

Harry sighed, "You have the brain power of Weasley, Blaise," he said and explained to him what had happened over the last week or so.

After he was done Blaise had a pensive expression on his face before he broke out laugh uncontrollably.

"Oh, this is hilarious! You were stuck with Austin for a whole week! I'm surprised you didn't tear each other apart!"

"Laugh all you want Blaise," Harry said annoyed at his reaction, "We didn't kill each other even though everyone assumed that we would. She did try her level best to irritate the crap out of me but it didn't work."

Now stop acting like an idiot and let's go for the feast."

"Yes sir," Blaise mocked.

Later in the night, Harry lay on his bed unable to fall asleep despite having a satisfying meal. He had been in a dull mood all day long for no reason at all and couldn't concentrate when he tried to read his books.

He got up from his bed and poured himself a glass of water. He glanced at his trunk remembering he still hadn't put his cloak to good use. Would it harm anyone if I toured the castle invisible? He mused. Suddenly making up his mind he removed his cloak from his trunk and snuck out of the common room.

He walked around aimlessly appreciating the freedom of not being seen by anyone and being away from all the whispers and glares. He kept walking examining the beautiful sculptures and paintings, fully appreciating the beauty of Hogwarts. On his way past the trophy room, he noticed a silver light coming out of a room close by.

He made sure he was covered with the cloak completely and made his way cautiously to the room and entered.

It was a small room with a huge silver lined mirror in the centre. It was shining under the moonlight streaming in from the open window and he stepped in front of it expecting to see his reflection but instead, he saw nothing. "Weird," he muttered. He then noticed some writing's on the top of the mirror _'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'_

It absolutely made no sense to him. He looked back at the mirror and to his surprise he saw a waterfall. He leaned closer and the scene in the mirror expanded.

It was beautiful.

There were several mountains around and one of them had a large waterfall pouring from it. At the bottom of the mountains there was a large open space which was covered in ice and they were shining like diamonds under the open sky. A little river was flowing from the river and there were trees growing from the river itself.

Suddenly he noticed three people running around, laughing and playing with each other. They came closer and closer to him and when he saw who they were he gasped and backed away in shock.

It was him with a man who looked very similar to him and a woman who had dark red hair and green eyes just like his. It was the same woman he had seen in his dreams.

He slowly went closer to the mirror and touched it. Immediately the man and woman stopped and looked at him curiously while his mirror image just smiled happily.

Then his mind froze in shock, "It can't be! It's just not possible!" he muttered to himself shaking his head. He calmed himself down and whispered, "Mum? Dad?"

They nodded and waved at him, hugging the Harry standing with them.

Harry was shocked, he just couldn't believe it. He dropped his invisibility cloak to the floor and went tried to touch his parents, his eyes watering. But he couldn't, it was like they were just out of reach.

Suddenly he was enraged, how dare this mirror show him the things he was missing in life! How dare it try to give him false happiness and keep it just out of reach! How dare it mock him like this!

He pulled out his wand ready to blast the thing out of existence.

His hand began to shake with indecision. He really wanted to destroy the mirror and at the same time he wanted to keep staring at the image of his parents.

He didn't want to have to make a choice.

"Hello Harry, what might you be doing here?"

Harry turned around quickly and saw Headmaster Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway.

Dumbledore had just arrived and was alarmed to see a furious Harry Potter standing in front of the mirror, his wand out and ready to destroy the mirror.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise at seeing the headmaster but quickly regained his composure and hid his wand up his sleeve.

"Are you going to punish me?" he asked the headmaster not wasting time with pleasantries.

"Why would I do that?" Dumbledore replied amused.

"I'm out of bounds, it's," he glanced at his watch, "2.00 in the morning, so yes I think you would want to give me detention."

Dumbledore laughed, "Sorry to disappoint Harry but I'm not quite in the mood today. So did you figure out what the mirror is?" he asked Harry.

"No."

"It's called the Mirror of Erised. It shows a man his hearts deepest desires."

"I see," Harry said indifferently.

"What did you see in the mirror Harry?" he asked the boy gently.

Harry's eyes clouded in pain and anger, "I saw life and death," he replied.

If Dumbledore was surprised at Harry's answer he didn't show it.

"If you're not going to punish me, I'm going back to bed professor."

Dumbledore nodded and motioned him to leave, but before Harry left he spoke again, "Oh and Harry. I could advise you not to go looking for the mirror again; it can cause even the bravest of wizards to go mad."

Harry didn't reply immediately, "Don't worry headmaster, if I see that mirror again you might just find its remains," he said and walked out of the door leaving behind a slightly thoughtful and worried headmaster.

"I wonder what he saw that made him react like that," he mused. "He is not what I expected him to be though," he added looking sadly at the reflection of a man with golden hair and a woman laughing in the mirror.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Murderer**

 **10th June 1992**

"Master, shouldn't we wait until e-everybody has left the c-castle?"

" _Silence you fool! Do not question my judgment!"_ rasped a weak but piercing voice.

"Y-yes m-master, when do you w-wish to retrieve t-the stone?"

" _Tonight my dear Quirrell, tonight I will be reborn. Tonight the world will witness the return of Lord Voldemort! And the first thing I am going to do is to take over this school and kill that Muggle loving fool, Albus Dumbledore."_

"What about Potter, My Lord?" Quirrell asked, trembling.

" _Potter will join me after I show him the power of the dark side. He is meant to be by my side if he is a true Slytherin, if not he will die."_

" _Tonight is the dawn of a new era!"_ Lord Voldemort said in glee.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was the last week of the year at Hogwarts and Harry and Blaise had just finished their last exam of the year, practical transfiguration.

"Finally exams are over and we can go home!" Blaise said cheerfully.

Harry and Blaise were sitting at the edge of the lake, chucking stones into the water, seeing who threw the furthest.

"Hurray, I'm so thrilled I'm going home," Harry said sarcastically.

"What's wrong?" Blaise asked frowning, "Not looking forward to the summer?"

"In answer to your questions _Blaise_ , you know how the Dursley's are and I might have forgotten to tell you that I hate summer."

"Why do you hate summer? It's like _the_ best time of the year!"

"I hate the summer because I've to stay with the bloody Dursley's for two whole months, do their chores, eat terrible food and feel the bloody heat trying to vaporize me," said Harry irritably. He really hated summer!

"I feel for you mate," Blaise said sympathetically patting his friends back. "Maybe you can come over to my place. It's the best mansion amongst all the purebloods. My mom has great taste."

"That would be great only if they allow me to go," he replied sighing. "Anyway, we'll see what to do later," he added walking towards a spot by the lake.

On the way he noticed Lillian, Hermione and Ron running towards the gamekeepers hut near the forest with a look of worry and anxiety on their faces.

"Where are those three running to?" asked Blaise.

"Probably interfering in other's business, they're Gryffindor's after all," he said in a bored voice.

Blaise sniggered, "Well said Mr. Potter, 10 points to Slytherin."

"Yeah, whatever, so how did your exams go?" Harry asked Blaise.

"They were alright. Defence, astronomy, potions and charms were pretty good. Almost failed in transfiguration and nearly fell asleep during history," he said with a grin. "What about you?"

"Walk in the park," Harry said shrugging. "I was expecting something harder."

Blaise rolled his eyes, "I thought you might say that, after seeing that quill you transfigured!" he exclaimed.

"It was nothing," Harry said amused.

"Please," scoffed Blaise. "Everyone barely managed to transfigure theirs into a wooden box and you transfigured yours into a silver box with the Slytherin crest on it!"

"I'm good aren't I," said Harry with an air of self importance.

"Even Granger just managed to transfigure hers into a pretty slick polished box and don't even get me started on yours charms practical!"

"Are you comparing me to Granger? Because if you are I'll fry you and feed you to the giant squid, besides Granger is all books and no skill."

"Hate to break it to you Harry but the giant squid is a vegetarian."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows.

"I just do," he said sticking his nose in the air, "Privileged information which cannot be shared with non Zabini's."

Harry sighed at sat on the grass leaning against a tree, "Whatever you say Blaise, whatever you say."

Blaise sat next to him and said in a serious tone, "Harry, what's bothering you mate? You should be happy the exams are over, not depressed."

"I don't want to go back," Harry confessed.

"Then don't, come and stay with me, my mum won't mind at all. Ask Dumbledore I'm sure he'll help you," said Blaise.

"Blaise I'd love to come over to your place for the vacations but I can't."

"And why the hell not?" Blaise asked not understanding his friend's behaviour.

"I have things stuff to do and things to figure out," Harry said evasively.

"What stuff?"

"Look Blaise, just drop it, it's really complicated. Now come on let's go pack," he said firmly. "Besides, how come you never talk about your dad?"

Blaise sighed. "Do you know why Malfoy and other purebloods dislike my family?"

Harry shook his head.

"My mother is what you would call an alleged gold-digger."

"Seriously?"

"I've had seven fathers since the time I was born. I don't know who my real dad was but ever since he disappeared by mom's become something of a black widow."

Harry was stunned. He didn't know whether to be impressed or horrified. His impulse was to be amazed instead of feeling horror. "I…"

"Don't bother trying to decode if she killed them or their deaths were accidents," Blaise said warily. "They were all dicks and I never really cared what happened to them. All that matters is my mum treats me like her little prince."

"Incredible," Harry said, making up his mind about what he thought about Blaise's mother. "Your mom is awesome."

Blaise laughed. "Awesome? That's a new one!"

"Never once has anyone been able to pin anything on her have they?" he said grinning.

"Her alibi has always been impenetrable," Blaise agreed.

"I would really like to meet her," Harry murmured. "I'm sure she's amazing."

"Come home with me instead of going to those Dursley's."

Harry immediately closed up. "I'm sorry Blaise. I just can't. Maybe next time." He stood up and started walking back to the common room.

Blaise hated it when his friend became all secretive and broody. But he just nodded and quietly followed him back, thinking deeply about his friend's mysterious behaviour.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

In the Gryffindor common room, three Gryffindor's were pacing up and down anxiously.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione cried. "Snape maybe after the stone this very minute!"

"It's still day time, I think he'll go after it as soon as it's dark," Lillian said.

"Well how are we going to stop him?" Ron said. "I mean even if we pulled our wands on him, I'm quite sure we'd be dead before we knew it."

Hermione bit her lips thinking hard, "We have to tell Professor Dumbledore, only he can stop this from happening."

"Right then, what are we waiting for? Time to find the big head!" Lillian said, jumping to her feet and heading to the portrait hole. Ron and Hermione hurried after her.

They ran all the way towards the headmaster's office following Lillian since she was the only one who knew where it was. On the way they encountered Filch who screamed at them to stop but they didn't bother.

"Where do you think you're running to?" said the strict voice of professor McGonagall.

All three Gryffindor's froze in their tracks all turned around sharply to see McGonagall standing behind them.

"Professor, we have got to find professor Dumbledore. It's extremely important!" Lillian said urgently.

McGonagall was surprised, "Whatever it is, I think you lot can tell me," she said sternly.

They didn't answer.

"Well?" she demanded, "Are you going to just stand there with your mouths open or are you going to start talking?"

"Err… you see… professor, we can tell only professor Dumbledore, only he'll know what to do," Hermione stammered.

McGonagall's lips thinned and her nostrils flared, which was never a good sign. "As the deputy headmistress of this school, I think you can tell me what you want to tell the headmaster," she said barely controlling her temper.

"Someone's trying to steal the philosopher's stone!" blurted out Ron.

Whatever McGonagall thought they were going to say, this definitely didn't cross her mind. She dropped the books she was carrying and looked at the three in pure shock.

"How on earth did you find out about the stone!" she whispered harshly.

"It doesn't matter ma'am, what does matter is that Snape's trying to steal the stone!" said Lillian, "We have to tell the headmaster!"

McGonagall looked at them incredulously but composed herself. With a wave of her wand she gathered the books she had dropped and said, "The headmaster is out on important business. The stone is quite safe and I assure you professor Snape is not trying to steal the stone when he's helping to protect it."

"But," Lillian protested.

"No! Do not say a word. I do not know how you came to know about the stone, but what I want is for you three to go back to your common rooms and stay there else you will be expelled!" she said in a no nonsense voice.

All three of them had defiant looks on their faces.

"Now or you will be spending the rest of night in detention with Filch!"

The defiant looks changed to defeat and they scarpered back to their common room before McGonagall decided to actually go through with her threat.

"What now?" Ron asked Lillian and Hermione.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to stop Snape no matter what," said Lillian firmly.

"But Mary! Didn't you hear McGonagall? We'll be expelled if we're caught!" Hermione said.

"I don't care, the stone is extremely important if Dumbledore is protecting it and if Snape gets his hands on it god only knows what a disaster that will be!

"Dumbledore gone too, it's too much of a coincidence. It can only mean he's going after the stone tonight and when he does we're going to stop him." Lillian said with so much passion and fierceness that Ron and Hermione agreed with her with equal vigour.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was after curfew and Harry was wandering around the castle, he couldn't stop thinking about what the whispers in his head had told him just after he had beaten the troll when he had passed out. Almost every night he was reminded by them about the consequences of not unlocking his magic. But the thing was he didn't understand what they meant by it or how it had to be done.

Ever since that day he had been stuck in the library trying to find out if one could unlock or lock his magic but he couldn't find a single thing. So he settled for becoming stronger by practicing and studying magic harder.

The only thing he was sure of was that the whispers came from his wand and it wanted Harry to unlock his magic.

"What the hell does it mean by that!" he thought growling in frustration and kicked a suit of armour only to wince in pain.

All of a sudden he heard footsteps in the distance and it sounded like someone was running and was running fast. He tried to put on his invisibility cloak so he wouldn't be caught, but was too late as the person caught sight of him.

"Potter!" it said, in a tone of relief.

Harry was surprised when he realized who it was. "Freckles?" he said incredulously, "What the hell are you doing down here?"

"Potter… Harry," she said placing her hands on her knees panting hard, "There's no time! Snape going to steal the stone tonight and we got to stop him!"

"Whoa, whoa slow down, you're not making any sense. What do you mean Snape's stealing a stone?" he asked confused.

"The philosopher's stone Harry! He's going to steal it tonight!" she cried.

"And how do you know that?" he demanded, "I know for a fact know that professor Snape is in his office right now brewing a potion which requires his full attention."

"What? No! We saw him sneaking to the third floor corridor right after dinner!"

"So go to professor McGonagall, why tell me out of all the people available?"

"Look Potter, we don't have time for this! McGonagall won't believe us and Dumbledore is out of the castle!" she said impatiently. "So will you please come and help us!"

"I'm not moving until you explain to me why do think someone's stealing the stone tonight and why in heaven's name would you come to me for help," he said sharply.

Lillian let out a frustrated yell, and took a deep breath and said, "I know someone is stealing the stone because Hagrid told someone how to get past the dog when he was drunk in Hogsmeade. The stranger gifted him a dragon egg in exchange for information on how to tame that three headed dog and now the headmaster is gone plus we just saw someone sneak into the third floor corridor, so yes the stone is in danger!"

"As for why I came to you, I didn't! I just happened to run into you and you're the only other person who knows about the stone and you are pretty skilled and I don't know why but I can trust you," she said breathlessly.

"I'm going to Professor Snape," he said turning around.

"No! You can't! What if he is the one trying to steal it!" she cried.

"He is not," Harry said firmly.

"But we don't know that!" she cried. "Why do you want to take that risk? Please help!"

"No," he said again and turned away from her.

Lillian caught his hand and pulled him back. "Please Harry," she said desperately. "You could be right but why take the risk! If we go down and find Snape not in his room it would just give him enough time to escape and if he _is_ in his room he most certainly will not help us! So will you please come with me and help! I'm begging you!"

Harry looked at her with conflicting emotions. On one hand he wanted to listen to the rational part of his brain and go and find professor Snape and on the other hand he didn't want to say no to her when she was pleading this much and there was a small chance she _could_ be right too.

"Alright fine, I'll come and help you," he said after a moment's pause without any conviction in his voice.

"Thank you!" she cried and moved to hug him but Harry stopped her.

"I don't want any hugs from you and this does not change anything between us. I still think you're being rash and it ain't going to change," he said firmly. "The only reason I'm coming is to protect the stone you get it?"

Lillian just nodded happily and ran towards the third from corridor with Harry hot on her heels.

"Damn she runs fast," he muttered trying to keep up with her.

They reached the forbidden corridor to find the door leading to the stone ajar.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" she whispered.

"I don't care, now let's go," he whispered back.

"No they were supposed to be here!"

"I said I don't care! Now do you want to get in or not?"

"Fine, fine," she said and they walked cautiously into the three headed dog's room.

They found a harp playing a slow musical tune and the dog fast asleep with the trap door wide open.

"Shit we're late!" Lillian cried, panicking.

The dog stirred a bit on hearing her voice and Harry quickly moved forward and roughly covered her mouth. "Do you want that monster to wake?" he growled harshly.

She shook her head and he let her go. She turned around and glared at him.

Harry glared right back and pointed toward the trap door and said, "Jump in."

"You jump in first!" she hissed.

"You dragged me into this! Now jump in or I'm leaving."

Lillian peered into the hole and could see only darkness. She then closed her eyes took, took a deep breath and jumped. She felt herself land on something soft and sighed in relief.

"It's safe!" Harry heard a muffled voice come up from the trap door. A few seconds later Harry landed beside her with a soft thump.

"Now what?" she said looking around. Harry didn't reply. He felt something slowly crawl up his body while tightening its grip on him.

"Harry! Now what do we do?" she asked again.

"Freckles, try to move your legs and hands," he said in a strained yet calm voice.

"What?" she said and tried to move but found that she couldn't. "Harry what's going on!" she said panicking.

"Lillian, conjure some flames now!" he said sharply, "I can't move a muscle!"

"I-I don't know how," she cried struggling to free herself.

"Do anything," Harry yelled, now panicking as he felt something begin to wrap around his neck. "Lumos, fire, anything or we're going to die before even seeing the stone!"

Lillian tried to reach for her wand but couldn't, "Fire, fire, fire, I need fire or light," she whispered, her heart beating wildly as something reached for her neck and started tightening around it.

"Freckles!" Harry screamed. The thing was now tightening its grip and in a few minutes time Harry knew his neck would snap. The lack of oxygen was dulling his senses and he couldn't bring himself to use his wandless magic to try and free himself.

"Fire, fire, fire!" she cried desperately and then it happened. Miraculously, fire shot out of her hands and spread all around her not harming her in the slightest.

Immediately the thing holding her let go and both her and Harry were dropped onto the ground below.

Harry lay on the floor gasping for breath. "T-took you b-bloody long enough," he said hoarsely, massaging his neck.

"What was that?" she said still shaking.

"That, my dear Lillian was the devils snare," he said dryly. "Which would have almost killed me if you hadn't conjured that fire, though how did you do it?"

"I don't know and don't call me your dear," she said. Seeing Harry's raised eyebrow she elaborated, "I was panicking, terrified and I kept wishing for fire to help me and then fire shot out of my hands and here we are."

"Fire shot out of your hands?" Harry said, the disbelief clear in his eyes.

"Yeah and this isn't the first time something like this has happened."

She was about to explain to him what happened the first time when he cut her of saying, "We don't have time to hear your story, let's move forward," he said and started walking towards the door in front of him.

Lillian huffed and followed him through the door.

In the next room they saw silver birds flying in the air, glittering, although there was no light.

"What is this?" Lillian asked in wonder. "They look like silver birds!"

Harry didn't say anything but gazed at the birds as surprised as Lillian was.

"They aren't birds!" he said suddenly making Lillian jump.

"Then what are they?" she asked frowning.

"They're keys, to the door ahead of us!"

"Huh," she said looking closer at the birds and realized that they were indeed keys with wings.

She looked around and spotted a few brooms lying around.

"Look, brooms," she said pointed towards them "Looks like we got to fly and catch the right key."

Harry nodded and they went and picked up a broom each. The instant they touched the brooms the keys immediately changed directions and headed straight towards them all together.

"Dodge them!" Harry shouted, scrambling onto the broom.

They shot into the air trying to look for the key they needed. After two minutes of flying and dodging keys that were trying to punch holes in them Lillian yelled, "This is impossible!"

Harry knew she was right. But they kept looking nonetheless. Then he spotted it, a key with a broken wing.

"Lillian," he yelled, "Look for a key with a broken wing! It's straight below me. Do you see it?"

"Yeah I see it," she yelled back.

"Good, I'm going to shot downwards to catch it and you come sideways in case it tries to escape got it?"

"Yeah."

"Alright GO!" he yelled, speeding towards the key. As he neared it, it sensed his presence and moved away only to end up in the hands of Lillian who shouted in victory.

They flew towards the door unlocked it and flew straight in and shut the door.

"That was intense!" Harry said feeling the addictive rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"Yeah it was," agreed Lillian, panting, her eyes alight with excitement even though their mission was a serious one. "Come on let's move."

They took a step forward and the room was flooded with light. Harry and Lillian shielded their eyes in pain and when their eyes adjusted to the brightness, they realized they were standing at the edge of a huge chess board.

"The doors at the other end," Harry said. "Want to try to go for it?"

Lillian nodded and walked ahead slowly, but as soon she reached the other end the black pawns drew their swords and pointed it at her neck.

Lillian slowly backed away with a gulp, "I don't think they're going to let us pass Harry."

"Come back I got an idea," he said.

"Get in here," he said removing his cloak from within his robes. "It's an invisibility cloak," he added seeing her confused look.

"Wow! That's cool!" she said in awe.

"Yeah, yeah now get in," he said covering himself and holding it open for her to get in. As soon as she got in Harry made sure that they were properly concealed but found that Lillian had to be a little _too_ close to him.

"Freckles, you mind not sticking so close to me," he said trying to lighten the atmosphere. "You're stinking."

Lillian rolled her eyes, "Shut up you, now's not the time for all that so just get closer and stop being such a prick," she said grabbing his waist and pulling him closer causing him to make a weird sound erupt from his throat.

"Okay let's move," he said holding his breath.

"You don't need to act like we're doing something forbidden!" she said annoyed.

"It's not that, it's just that you really stink right now."

"Do you think you smell like roses?" she hissed angrily. "Stop making a face and move!"

"Ok, ok," Harry said and they moved ahead slowly hoping the pawns wouldn't chop them into pieces. They got closer and closer and then walked past the chess pieces eyeing them carefully for any sign of violence and successfully reached the door.

They sighed in relief and Lillian removed the cloak and pushed him away.

"No don't," cried out Harry, but it was too late. The chess pieces sensed their presence. They instantly turned around and withdrew their weapons, ready to strike.

Harry wrenched the door open and yelled at her to get in. Just as they got in they heard the sound of the chess pieces slamming against the door and a sword came through it missing them by inches.

Harry and Lillian quickly scrambled away from the door and sighed in relief again.

"That was close," said a happy to be alive Harry. "What's next?"

"Our next task has been done before hand I think," she said covering her nose.

"What?" asked Harry as a horrible smell filled his nostrils, "Urgh, what is that smell?!"

It was a troll lying dead on the floor giving out a foul odour.

"Let's get out of here," Lillian said, tugging Harry along to the next door and moving out of the room. As soon as they entered the next room the door behind turned to flames.

This small room had a table with seven vials placed on it. Harry and Lillian walked towards them and found a parchment with something written on it near the vials.

Lillian picked it up to read it while Harry looked around for the next door but found purple flames guarding it instead of a door. Purple flames in front and normal flames behind - This room was intended to be a trap.

Lillian read out loud from the parchment,

" _Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

 _Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

 _One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

 _Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

 _Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

 _Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line._

 _Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,_

 _To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

 _First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

 _You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

 _Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

 _But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_

 _Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

 _Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

 _Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

 _Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."_

"This is a riddle," Harry said with a frown and read it again trying to figure it out.

Lillian just rolled her eyes, "There's a simple way to find out which is the correct vial, Harry."

"Huh, and what way is that?" he asked perplexed.

"Simple. All the vials are of the same size so whichever bottle has the least potion must be the one to drink otherwise there would be a dead body right here," she said smirking at his shocked face.

Harry just gaped at her, "That's smart," he exclaimed. "Who knew Gryffindor's actually had a brain," he said and earned a whack on the head from Lillian.

They checked each vials contents and struck gold on vial number 6.

"There barely anything left," Harry said quietly. "Probably enough for just one."

"I know. So what now?" she asked him looking into his eyes.

"I'll go ahead, but how are you going to go back?"

"I'm not letting to you go in there alone! You could be killed!"

"Look I'm the stronger one out of the two of us and you know it. You should go back and get help, but the question is how're you going to get past that fire?"

"Don't worry about going back," she said fiercely "It's dangerous in there; you read the parchment didn't you!"

"I did, but think rationally, if we both manage to get through who will call for help?"

Lillian didn't respond.

"You see? It makes sense. Now how are you going to get past those flames if we don't figure the riddle?"

"I told you don't worry about that, fire won't harm me… Watch," she said and put her hand in the fire and nothing happened.

"How the hell are you doing that?" Harry said, stunned.

"I don't know," she replied. "All I know is that fire doesn't harm me. I tried to tell you about it before but you didn't listen."

"Alright it's decided then, I'm going ahead and you're going for help. Here take the cloak. It'll help you pass that stupid chess board. After that, take the broom and get help."

Lillian just looked at him, her features expressionless. "What?" asked Harry a little unnerved by the staring, "We got to get moving."

"Good luck Harry. Please be careful," she said softly and with a last look at Harry she jumped through the fire covering the cloak so that it wouldn't get burned.

After she disappeared Harry sighed, "Here goes nothing," he murmured and gulped down the potion and walked through the purple flames.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry entered a large chamber with a high conical ceiling and found a man with a turban standing in front of a mirror muttering something under his breath.

"Good evening professor Quirrell," Harry greeted calmly, though he felt his heart beat faster. Inside he was hoping Lillian would get help soon.

"Good evening to you too Mr. Potter, I'm surprised to see you here."

"Well I'm not surprised to see you and you can stay surprised until professor Dumbledore gets here," Harry said and drew out his wand only to find it ripped out of his hand instantly. He was bound in ropes before he could even comprehend what had happened.

But something unusual happened when Harry's wand reached Quirrell. It disappeared in a flash of white light.

"What the?!" Quirrell gasped, looking surprised. "Where did it go?" he demanded looking around but couldn't spot it anywhere. "Oh well, I better get back to business," he said and turned back to the mirror.

Harry meanwhile was staring at the back of his wand hand. A tattoo had appeared there the moment this wand had disappeared. It was a triangle with a circle inside it a line passing through its midpoint.

He looked back at Quirrell and was shocked when he saw the mirror; it was the mirror of Erised.

He was filled with a deep desire to go and look at his parents again regardless of the fact that he had lost his temper the last time he laid eyes on it but then he remembered Dumbledore's warning and realized what he meant.

Quirrell, meanwhile, was muttering under his breath and waving his wand at the mirror. "I'm looking at the stone and I can see myself reaching for it, but I can't catch it!" he said in frustration "What do I need to do get it?"

" _Use the boy,"_ a voice suddenly hissed.

Harry looked around trying to locate the source of the sound but couldn't see anyone apart from Quirrell.

Quirrell pointed his wand at Harry and Harry was yanked forward and placed in front of the mirror.

"What do you see Potter?" Quirrell asked him.

Harry looked into the mirror and was astonished to see his reflection and nothing else. His reflection winked at him and removed a blood red conical stone with jagged corners from his left pocket. Mirror Harry smiled and dropped the stone in his right pocket.

Harry was even more surprised when he felt something heavy in his left pocket.

"What do you see Potter?" Quirrell said impatiently.

"I see myself shaking hands with professor Dumbledore," he invented quickly, "I just got an award for getting rid of the stuttering dark arts professor who smells awfully like garlic," he added.

"Don't mock me boy!" Quirrell roared and slashed his wand at Harry. Harry gasped in pain and blood spurted from a long cut on his chest.

" _Stop Quirrell, let me speak to the boy,"_ the voice hissed again weakly.

"My master, you are not strong enough for this," Quirrell said and instantly fell to the floor screaming and holding his head.

" _I am strong enough for this! Now do it,"_ the voice said angrily.

"Y-yes master," Quirrell stammered.

He stood up and started unfolding his turban. "Behold Potter, the greatest wizard alive in the world," he said removing his turban and turning around.

Harry yelled in shock and tried to move but he couldn't, the pain in his chest was too great and the ropes binding him were still firmly in place.

" _Hello Harry Potter, I've waited a long time to meet you."_

"What the hell are you?" Harry gasped, he was feeling dizzy and his body was going numb.

" _I am Lord Voldemort, and I killed your parents,"_ it said giving a very horrific and ugly smile.

Harry's eyes widened as he realized who exactly this was.

"You're supposed to be dead!" he said, inhaling sharply, not in fear but in revulsion and hate.

" _I assure you I am quite alive but without a physical form thanks to you. Can you see what I have become? I am a mere spirit, I am weak and I have to live off unicorn blood to survive!_

 _Look at me Potter!"_ Voldemort hissed.

"I-I don't want to l-look at someone a-as ugly as you," Harry said moaning in pain as the cut on his chest grew larger and deeper.

" _Look at you,"_ said Voldemort cruelly. _"The life slowly slipping away from your body and you still have the cheek to mock me. Now why don't you give me that stone which is in your pocket and I just might be kind enough to save your life."_

"Untie me and I'll think about it," Harry said. Breathing was becoming a difficult task and everything was becoming blurry.

" _Untie him Quirrell; let us see what this half blood has up his sleeve."_

Quirrell untied him and Harry stood up shakily on his feet and looked into Voldemort's eyes with pure loathing.

"You killed my parents," he said, his voice filled with hate.

" _Yes I did, young Harry, now_ _ **give me the stone!"**_

"Go to hell," spat Harry. "I don't know how you could imagine me actually giving you the stone willingly."

" _Quirrell, kill the boy,"_ Voldemort hissed angrily.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry dodged ignoring the terrible pain and jumped at Quirrell, surprising him and grabbed his neck.

Pain exploded in Harry's head as soon as he touched Quirrell and Quirrell too yelled as his neck began to burn and turn black.

Harry somehow saw this through a haze of pain and immediately tightened his grip. Quirrell howled in pain as his entire body began to burn and turn into ash.

Voldemort was screaming, _"Kill him, kill him now!"_

Harry's head felt like it was going to explode, his chest felt like it was on fire and yet he still held on to Quirrell hoping everything would end soon.

Then everything just stopped. Harry just lay on the floor on top of a pile of ash. His hands were shaking violently and he then realized that the ashes were the remains of Quirrell.

Suddenly a pale black smoke with the face of Voldemort rose from the ground screaming like a banshee and disappeared through the wall.

Harry watched the form of Voldemort flee. The pain in his head slowly reduced and the pain in his chest came back tenfold.

He gasped in agony pressing his hands to his chest and fell to the ground. Just before he passed out from the pain he glanced back to the mirror and saw his parents watching him with tears in their eyes. They were mouthing to him "We love you."

Harry smiled at them and laughed. Immediately coughed blood but he kept his eyes fixed on his parents as his consciousness slowly faded.

 _"I'm joining you soon,"_ were his last thoughts before he surrendered to the darkness.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **14th June 1992**

It was dark, it was cool and it was comfortable were Harry's first thoughts when he woke. "Am I dead," he croaked.

He heard a chuckle and a voice spoke up, "No my boy, you are not, although you came an inch close to death that night."

Harry turned towards the voice and winced as his chest started aching again.

"Well I'm glad it wasn't a centimetre."

"You shouldn't be moving Harry, that was quite a slash you had there," said Dumbledore said coming into Harry's line of sight. "I've been waiting quite a while for you to wake."

"How long has it been?" Harry asked.

"Three days," replied the headmaster. "Your friends have been quite anxious to know about your condition, especially Mr. Zabini and Ms. Austin, who is intent on blaming herself for your injuries. She even offered to give her blood in case you needed a transfusion but you're blood types are different."

"You say especially Blaise and Freckles like I have other friends too," said Harry snorting.

Dumbledore chuckled, "Interesting nick name."

Harry grinned, "Yeah, she hates it."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Well, I have been wondering, what happened in the room with Quirrell, Harry?"

Harry didn't know what to say. The night was somewhat a blur to him.

"Nothing you wouldn't be able to figure out," Harry said shrugging. "When I entered the room I saw Quirrell standing in front of that cursed mirror. I tried to attack him but he disarmed and bound me. But when he was unable to get the stone from the mirror a voice hissed at him to make me look into the mirror and when I did imagine my surprise when I see myself in the mirror and not my parents like last time."

"My reflection then winked at me and drops the stone in my pocket and lo behold there it is in my left pocket. Quirrell then untied his turban and it turns out Voldemort was living in his head. Voldemort and I had a chat for a while and then I miraculously killed Quirrell with my bare hands and passed out."

"I see," Dumbledore said after a few minutes of silence "And you do not have any questions?"

"Of course I do! My mind is swimming with questions that need to be answered desperately, I was merely being polite and letting you ask the first question."

"Well ask away then, my boy," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

"How did Quirrell get down there so easy and why did the mirror give me the stone?"

"Ah you see Harry, I had received a rather urgent mail from the minister of magic, but half way through the journey I realized something was wrong and came rushing back only to find you unconscious along with the ashes of ex-professor Quirrell. As for why you were able to retrieve the stone… only someone who did not want the stone for personal uses could retrieve the stone, so no matter how hard Quirrell tried he would have never been able to get the stone."

"So there was no need for me to go down there after all and get torn up," Harry groaned.

"I wouldn't put it that way Harry, I think it was rather brave of you to chose to protect the stone and not just ignore the threat," he said kindly.

"Please," Harry scoffed, "I would have never gone down there if it wasn't for Freckles. First thing I wanted to do was go to Professor Snape and inform him about Austin suspicions but she was convinced that he was the one after the stone."

Dumbledore smiled, "A Slytherin at heart I see."

"Of course," Harry said "Sorting hat was pretty sure about that too. So what's going to happen to the stone?"

"It is destroyed. Nicolas and Perenelle agreed with me, the stone was too dangerous to be kept around and if it fell into the wrong hands the result would be devastating."

"So they're going to die?"

"Yes. For them it is like going to sleep after a very, very long day. After all death is the next great adventure."

"Why couldn't Quirrell touch me? Or rather why did my touch harm him?"

"Quirrell's mind had been taken over by Lord Voldemort and Voldemort cannot touch you because of the protection your mother has left in your blood. She sacrificed her life to save yours and when a mother who loved her son so deeply died to protect her child it left an ancient protection in your blood which prevented Voldemort from killing you that fateful night. I could also say that the essence of your mother's soul flows in your veins protecting you from Voldemort."

"Oh," was all Harry would say, he didn't know whether to be pleased or sad that his mother was in other words living through him.

"One more thing professor… Why did Voldemort want to kill me in the first place?"

The smile and twinkle vanished from Dumbledore's face and he seemed to age a hundred years before Harry's eyes. "That, Harry, is a story for another time."

"I see," Harry said softly.

"Well Harry, I'll take my leave. You might want to get some sleep, tomorrow is the last day you will be at Hogwarts and some people are anxiously waiting to meet you as soon as the sun rises. Good Night," said Dumbledore walking out of the hospital wing.

"Wait professor," Harry said suddenly "If you tell me what you see in that cursed mirror, I'll tell you what I see."

Dumbledore stood still for almost a minute before turning around and answering, "I see what my life would be like if it weren't for the mistakes I made in the past," he said sadly.

Harry nodded and replied, "I see my parents and myself laughing and playing with each other in the season of winter. The reason you saw me angry was because it reminded me of the life I should have been living, not the life I have now."

Dumbledore bowed his head.

"It's a sad world Harry, when children lose their parents and are brought up without love. Have a good night Harry."

"You too professor," Harry said as the headmaster left leaving behind a very pensive, overly matured eleven year old.

As soon as he left Harry rolled up his sleeves and examined the new tattoo on his right wrist. It was still there, as dark as ever and then Harry realized his wand wasn't with him.

Suddenly he felt the urge to touch his tattoo and say something. He slowly touched the tattoo with his left hand and whispered, "Come forth."

There was a flash of white light and his wand appeared in his right hand, ready to be used.

Harry stared at his wand in wonder and said, "You are a very powerful want aren't you?"

He could have sworn he heard a 'yes' when he said that.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next day when Harry woke he saw Lillian dozing in a chair next to his bed beside a huge pile of gifts and chocolates.

He decided to have some fun. He slowly got up from his bed and went next to her. He leaned in closer to her face and positioned himself in front of her ear and yelled, "WAKE UP FRECKLES!"

Lillian screamed bloody murder and fell of the chair with a loud thump. She looked around wildly and saw Harry standing behind her grinning like mad.

"You… you bastard!" she shrieked "Why the hell did you do that! To think I was actually worried to death about you but now I just wish you had died!"

Harry still grinning went and sat on his bed and hissed in pain grabbing his chest.

Immediately Lillian stopped yelling and her eyes softened, "Are you ok Harry, does it hurt?"

"Na, I just did that so that you'd stop screaming like a banshee," he said lying down again smirking.

Lillian had a murderous expression on her face; she looked at him and then whacked him on the unhurt side of his stomach."

"Ahh!" Harry cried, "What's with you and physicality!"

Lillian just gave a smirk worthy of any self respecting Slytherin, "Now that it is clear who is in the bed and who is unhurt, I shall say what I came to say."

Harry just nodded not wanting another blow to his body. "I wanted to apologize for dragging you with me to save the stone."

"Damn right, I'm all messed up because of that," Harry muttered.

"And," she said a little louder trying to control herself, "And I regret not going with you to face Voldemort."

"Tch, if you would have come I could have gotten more torn up trying to protect you and nobody would have saved me."

"God damn, Potter! Can't you just accept my apology?!"

"Typical Gryffindor, always wear their emotions on their sleeves." "But," he added quickly seeing her clench and unclench her fingers, "I accept your apology and it isn't your fault this happened. You were only trying to do what you thought was right."

Lillian smiled in relief, "I'm glad you're alright," she said.

"Does that mean I can call you Freckles?"

A twitch formed on her forehead, "No it means you can call me Mary," she ground out gritting her teeth.

"Mary is a lame name for a girl like you. It makes me imagine you as some silly girl which you're definitely not. I'd rather call you Lillian or Freckles," he said scoffing.

"I don't know if that was a compliment but yeah, whatever. So friends?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'll think about it, if there's any profit in being your friend that is," he replied putting his hands behind his head.

"You are a moron, Potter," she said shaking her head.

"Oh back to surnames are we?" he asked her smirking.

"Yes, you make it impossible for me to talk to you for a minute without making me want to pound you. And here's your invisibility cloak."

"I hope you didn't tell anyone about it."

"No I didn't," she replied. "Well, see you around Harry."

"You too Freckles," he said grinning.

She grinned as well. Somehow the name wasn't so bad after all.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry left the hospital wing sometime in the evening. Blaise had come to visit Harry sometime in the afternoon and of all the people, Malfoy had come along too.

It was the last feast of the year at Hogwarts and he was sitting with Blaise and Draco joking and laughing.

"May I have your attention please?" Dumbledore said loudly, clapping his hands trying to get the attention of the students.

"Now I understand the house cup here needs awarding so here it goes. In fourth place, the Hufflepuff house with 320 points. In third place Gryffindor with 400 points," a few Gryffindor's clapped at that, "In second place Ravenclaw with 450 points," cheers came from the Ravenclaw table, "And in first place the Slytherin house with 455 points."

Everybody in Slytherin started yelling in joy and banging their goblets on the table. "Yes, yes congratulations Slytherin but I have a few last minutes points to give out," said Dumbledore.

Everyone went still.

"To Ms. Lillian Mary Austin, I award 60 points for not backing down in the face of danger and approaching and confronting it like a true Gryffindor."

Everybody on the Gryffindor table exploded in cheers at winning the house cup and many started thumping Lillian on her back in congratulations. All the Slytherin's were looking on in disbelief.

"And too Mr. Harry James Potter," added Dumbledore and it was the Gryffindor's turn to fall silent.

The Slytherin's held their breath in anticipation.

"For being calm and collected in a life or death situation and for thinking rationally when it comes to confronting dangerous tasks, I award 70 points."

This time nobody cheered and waited for the headmaster to drop any more bomb shells. "So I believe it is now safe to declare the Slytherin's as the winner's of the house championship!"

Most of the Slytherin's sighed in relief and cheered raising their goblets high in the air.

Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table and spotted the sour face of Weasley and gave a victorious smirk. He looked around for Lillian and he found her sitting between the Weasley twins. She raised her goblet in acknowledgement and smiled at Harry.

"Now that we are all fed and watered, let us go to bed and have a good night's sleep for tomorrow we will be going back to our families," Dumbledore continued and sat back into his chair.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **16th June 1992**

The last day at Hogwarts was uneventful. Harry sat with Blaise, Draco, Daphne and Tracey in one compartment up to kings cross. The journey was terribly boring except for the time the girls wanted details from Harry about what had happened with Quirrell. After all the rumours making rounds in the castle were unbelievable. The most famous version was one in which Harry had transformed into a giant snake and eaten the Professor. Harry had a few ideas as to who came up with that one.

As the train slowed down, Harry gathered his stuff with Hedwig's cage on the top, put them on a trolley and rolled it out to go out and meet the Dursley's after a year without their nasty presence.

"See you later Blaise," said Harry and waved at him as he walked out of the barrier back into the world of muggles.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **A/N:** **Ron and Hermione were caught by Percy trying to sneak out of the common room and that is why they never showed up.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Good Vs Evil**

Harry lay on his bed twirling his wand casually and was deep in thought. His relatives were staying out of his way, they were feeding him thrice a day and Dudley was now terrified of Harry. He should have been glad but he wasn't. What good was it going to be if was going to die.

His clothes or rather Dudley's old clothes were thrown around without a care. There were quite a few books surrounding his bed, it had been a hell of task to get the librarian to allow him to borrow so many books including a few from the restricted section.

Most of the books were all about binding a person's magic and how to undo it or how to unlock ones potential, but none of them had any spells or concrete information. All were just filled with the authors view on the subject and their ridiculous theories, in other words the books were a waste.

He stared at his wand and said, "Why can't you just unbind or unlock my magic?"

" _Because only you can or the binder can."_

Harry almost fell out of his bed in shock. "Damn Wand," he muttered. "No help at all."

The whispers were a like a thousand voices whispering right into ear together. It was really freaky and the worst part was that it chose to say something whenever it wished to. There was no way Harry could get it to talk or have a conversation with it. Come to think of it he had never heard of a wand talking before, but then he had a special wand unlike any else.

He glared at his wand wondering why he couldn't just have a normal wand or a normal life without any complications.

"Damn Gryffindor's," he muttered again. The only reason he got into trouble at school was because of Gryffindor's, the only reason he ended up in the hospital wing twice was because of Gryffindor's and the only reason his wand started talking to him was because of damn Gryffindor's!

It had all started the night the troll attacked.

 ** _Flashback_**

He saw the troll swing the club over its head ready to strike… he saw Lillian screaming at him to get out of the way and he felt the pain in his body return, but he just raised his wand confidently and yelled _Eradicopectus!_

A yellowish green light burst out of his wand and hit the troll in the chest blasting it back. It fell on the floor hard and didn't move again.

Lillian stumbled to her feet, her body shaking and ran to Harry, "Harry! Harry! Are you okay?!"

Harry felt the world and everything in it begin to spin. He tried to move but the pain was too much.

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Lillian looking concerned.

Her pretty face swam in front of his eyes as spots of darkness began to obscure his vision. "I'm fine," he muttered and lost consciousness.

.

.

.

.

I'm shivering… why am I shivering?

.

.

.

.

What is this feeling?

.

.

.

Something is freezing my body.

Harry's eyes shot open and he jumped up looking around wildly for the troll, but… but nothing was there? It was just darkness. He was feeling cold, but he never felt cold!

Why was he feeling the need to be close to fire? He had never felt like this before!

Slowly his vision came back to him. It was like a curtain of black was lifting from his eyes.

He was standing in the middle of an endless flat plain of ice. He looked around in wonder. It was beautiful, there were massive icebergs floating in the air sparkling like they would during the day though there was no source of light in sight. There were long narrow pieces of ice coming out of the ground at various angles shinning like diamonds.

He looked down and realized he was standing on water and not ice! He gasped in surprise and lost his balance and fell. He shut his eyes waiting for the sound of his body splashing against the water come but instead it felt like he had fallen on a very soft surface and was being pushed back up gently.

He was too shocked to say a word. He took a step forward and saw the water rippling but it felt like he was standing on a normal cool floor.

The wind blew again and he felt extremely cold. He clutched his body to shield him from the cold and knelt on the water floor shivering. Then all of a sudden the wind stopped blowing and Harry felt normal again.

He stood up and asked himself the obvious question. "Where the hell am I?"

As if expecting an answer Harry waited but none came. He then decided to explore the place, he started walking ahead then stopped and looked around again and wondered in which direction he should go.

He kept looking around him when he spotted something sparkling in the sky, it seemed to be really tall and Harry decided to walk it that direction.

After walking continuously for fifteen minutes Harry could soon make out something sticking out of the ground. The closer he came to it the bigger it became and when he reached it he couldn't help but drop his mouth open in awe. It was a huge pillar of ice and water swirling together without a sound. He looked up and couldn't see an end to its height.

Again he said to himself, "Where the fuck is this? One moment I'm fighting a troll and the next I'm in a world of ice and water. He looked up again and noticed something black in the water ice mixture. He frowned and wondered if he could look at it up close. Instantly the black part in the water began coming closer to him. As soon as he reached it he wrinkled his nose in disgust. It was a foul smelling black substance contaminating the water.

He looked down to see if there was something he could use to remove that foul thing from such a beautiful and amazing thing or whatever it was, but yelled in shock as he realized he wasn't on the ground.

Part of the water had risen up and taken him to the black contaminant so silently that he hadn't even realized it.

He put his hand on his heart breathing hard. "Almost had a heart failure there," he murmured.

He decided to try to remove it with his hands. He covered his nose with his left hand and lent closer to the foul smelling water and touched it. The instant he touched it pain flared all over his body and he was thrown back violently.

Back in the real world Harry coughed blood lying in the hospital wing with Dumbledore, Snape and Madam Pomfrey standing beside him.

"Why won't he wake, Albus? And why in Merlin's name is he coughing blood?" she whispered.

"I don't know Poppy," Albus whispered, sounding worried while Snape just looked on without any expression on his face.

As he flew through the air, the water from the ground rose silently and caught him gently and laid him on the ground of water.

Harry stood up shaking violently as the pain slowly left his body. "W-what t-the hell w-was t-that?" he stuttered.

" ** _That was part of your magic trying to embrace you but wasn't able to thus reacting violently against you,"_** a man said behind him.

Harry looked back sharply only to see nothing. He looked around confused wondering where the voice had come from.

" ** _I don't have a physical form so you cannot see me,"_** it said from a different direction in a different voice.

"Who are you?" Harry shouted "Where am I?"

" ** _Who are you?"_** it said in a feminine voice this time _,_ _ **"Where am I?"**_ it said again from a different direction, sounding further away from him.

" ** _I am the essence of your wand and we are inside your magical core."_**

"What!" he yelled thoroughly confused.

" ** _You heard me, I am the voice of your essence and we are inside your magical core."_**

Harry took deep breaths and calmed himself. "So you're telling me that I'm talking to my wand and we are currently inside my magical core?" he said sceptically.

" ** _No need to yell, I can hear you perfectly fine and yes that's what I'm telling you."_**

"Why does your voice keep changing and why does it feel like you're moving? Can't you stay in one place?"

" ** _My voice is changing? Well I suppose that is because I have many voices and I am not moving, I am just everywhere. I told you before I have no physical form. I could be anywhere but you will be able to hear me,"_** the voice echoed around him.

"So my mind is in my magical core but we are actually in Hogwarts," he said slowly.

" ** _Yes."_**

"Why did you bring me in here?"

" ** _To talk to you and to explain a few things that you need to know."_**

"Was it your voice I heard before and did you tell me that spell?" Harry asked curiously.

" ** _Yes, that is the reason you are standing here right now. Because I forced myself to save your life, there were unforeseen consequences."_**

"What consequences?" Harry asked getting a little worried and scared.

" ** _I will explain in time, but now I must explain to you why I chose you and what I am."_**

Harry stood silently, waiting for his wand to begin. Suddenly he felt himself being lifted and being put in a comfortable chair."

Then it began _,_ _ **"Thousands of years ago, before this world was split into two and before the human population began to grow exponentially, the world was locked in a battle for survival.**_

 ** _You could call it a battle between good and evil. The one who would win this war would build the world and shape it in its image._**

 ** _There existed a perfect balance between the two sides and it was a balance which was destined to be destroyed._**

 ** _The timeless war went on until Humans became a factor in balance of power._**

 ** _Three powerful humans joined the forces of good and helped tilt the scales of power in their favour._**

 ** _This period of time lasted for 30 days and 29 nights in which good and evil fought until evil's power broke and it lay defeated._**

 ** _Evil begged for mercy, but the brothers were not stupid. They knew evil was trying to get them to forgive it and let it live with no power but they knew sooner or later it would get its power back and they would have to fight again._**

 ** _Just as they readied themselves to destroy this being forever, Evil shouted, "I will give you anything you want, anything to make you more powerful, please spare me!"_**

 ** _The brothers stopped and looked at each other, all thinking the same thing. Evil smiled inside knowing that greed, a weakness common to humans, would overcome their desire to destroy him._**

" ** _You killed my wife," the middle brother spat, "why should we let you live?!"_**

" ** _I can bring her back to you," evil whispered. "I will offer you the one thing you want most if you let me live."_**

 ** _The brothers had a discussion amongst themselves, whether to kill it or not. The eldest and the middle brother both agreed to let it live while the youngest was uncertain, he felt that they should kill it. But since both the other brothers had agreed he couldn't do anything because it would take all their power together to destroy it._**

 ** _Thus the eldest brother asked for a wand, a wand that could never be defeated. A wand with which would make him untouchable. Evil nodded and presented to him the Death Stick, the most powerful wand that could ever be made and one that could be used only by the eldest brother and no one else; unless they were more powerful than the brother, which was not possible or so evil thought._**

 ** _The middle brother asked for the power to bring people back from the dead. Evil smiled at him and gave him a ring. He told the brother if he twisted the stone on the ring three times and called the name of the person he wanted they would come to him. The brother nodded happily and pocketed the ring._**

 ** _Then the last and the youngest brother looked into evil's eyes and asked for a cloak of invisibility, a cloak that could make him invisible to everyone. Evil scowled at him and reluctantly pulled a cloak out of the thin air and presented it to the man._**

 ** _Then evil said, "I have done what you asked me to, now you must let me go."_**

 ** _The first two brothers just nodded and left. They couldn't wait to use their new gifts, but the youngest stayed back and asked evil a question, "How did you get all these things? They are such powerful items."_**

 ** _Evil smiled, "I have the power to create anything for others but not for me unless I take control of this world. This battle may have been won by you for now, but when I get my powers back, I will destroy you all once and for all and create the world in my image," it said and vanished never to be seen again for a long time._**

 ** _"The battle between good and evil should have ended that day but greed won over the hearts of the brothers and evil escaped."_**

Harry silently heard the story, following every word carefully. After a while he asked, "Is this story true?"

" ** _If you want proof your wand and cloak is proof enough."_**

Harry was stunned; suddenly he stood up and yelled, "Ollivander!" He took a deep breath and said, "Ollivander told me that my wand or rather you were a gift given to a wizard by death and the wand had never worked for anyone except for him and now me!"

" ** _The truth is always twisted as time goes by. Even my knowledge could be flawed since I was created after the battle was won. Once the brothers came back after successfully defeating evil, they boasted about their gifts and never thought to keep it a secret. The eldest brother kept challenging people to duels and never lost a single duel. But he was murdered by his own son who stole me from him thinking I would bend to his will. Since then people would keep killing each other for possession of me but I could not work for them the way I worked for the eldest brother because there was no way anyone could be more powerful than the eldest brother. He was one of the first wizards to come into existence and his magic was evenly distributed amongst his children so no one would ever be able to be as powerful as he was._**

 ** _Since then I have been passed on from person to person, until I came into your hands. Your potential is greater than the eldest brother. Because of this, I will work for you and the power you can wield using me is infinite provided you use me correctly."_**

"What happened to the other brothers?" Harry asked.

" ** _I only know about things where I have been, I do not know what happened to the other brothers but about 80 to 90 years back, I was found by a wizard by the name of Gellert Grindelwald. He and another friend of his, whose name was Albus Dumbledore, spoke about a legend known as the Deathly Hallows. It is similar to what the wand maker told you, but includes the other two brothers as well._**

Harry gasped when he heard Dumbledore was friends with Grindelwald.

 ** _According to that story, the middle brother used the stone to summon his wife from the dead and talk to her but he could not touch her. Driven mad by grief and his desire to be with her he killed himself and surrendered his soul to death and joined his wife in the afterlife._**

 ** _The youngest brother used the cloak to hide from death and finally revealed himself to death, who was waiting to get him, when he was old and died happily."_**

"So nobody knows how the wand, the stone and the cloak came into existence except for you and now me."

" ** _Yes," the voice replied._**

Harry processed what he had just been told and gulped. It was unbelievable.

"Earlier you said that there were consequences because you saved me from the troll. What were you talking about?" Harry asked remembering what his wand had told him before explaining its history.

" ** _Because you were in danger, I was forced to help you."_**

"So? You are my wand now, and you did say that you will work me properly and will give me infinite power."

" ** _I did say that and that's the way it is supposed to be. But I was unable to reach you because part of your magic has been bound, thus I cannot access your full power and if I can't use your full power I cannot reach out to you like I have now."_**

"Then how did you do it?"

" ** _I forced my way through it, to save your life. If you died the consequences would not be good."_**

"What would happen if I died?" Harry asked, curious to know why his life was so important.

" ** _The one who can wield the death stick is the one who can destroy evil forever."_**

"So you're telling me that I am going to have to fight evil? Who, by the way, is so powerful that it took the power of all three brothers to defeat it?" Harry said incredulously.

" ** _Evil is not as powerful as it were at that time, it was unable to gain its power back so it decided to influence the souls of humans. It was extremely cunning and intelligent, so it began corrupting the minds of humans, making them want more power; his power. Evil could not use its magic but it realized that if it possessed a human it could use the human's magical power and turn it forever into his own._**

 ** _So what evil did next was to create a magic that humans could use to gain great power and named it the dark arts. But to do this it had to make a sacrifice, a sacrifice that would make it lose all its consciousness and exist only as a tool to be used by humans._**

 ** _If a powerful wizard uses the dark arts and if he uses too much without destroying himself, evil would be able to gain back its consciousness through that witch or wizard and effectively come back to life with all its powers and nobody would be able to stop it._**

 ** _It would result in the end of human race and the world as you know it. The only way to destroy the dark arts would be to destroy the one who can use it the best._**

 ** _The dark arts are not the magic you use. When you use the dark arts you are not just using powerful magic, what you are doing is summoning magic from a different plane of existence and this magic corrupts the core of the wizard making it a slave to Evil when it returns. The more you use it, the more you will want it and soon you will be consumed by it and there will be no way of coming out of it unless you stop yourself before it is too late._**

 ** _If you continue using it, your magical core will be destroyed by it and it will be replaced by one made from the dark arts making the man powerful beyond his own capabilities. If a man who can host evil's conscious exists, all the magical cores of the witches and wizards corrupted by the dark arts will flow into him from the other plane of existence melding into one and evil will rise again through this vessel as terrible and as powerful as before."_**

"How…. How do you know this?" Harry whispered.

" ** _The youngest brother knew that evil had a plan to come back and it was a mistake not to kill him. So one night he came to me whispered all what I have told you. He had lived long enough to see evil transform into the dark arts and he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He was the wisest and the cleverest of all the brothers and had kept track of me and evil using his cloak of invisibility."_**

 ** _"But he did know that if someone who could wield me was born, there would be hope for the world yet and evil could be destroyed once and for all."_**

"Wow," whispered Harry "So I am the one can destroy it once and for all."

" ** _Yes."_**

Harry didn't know how to feel, there were so many thoughts and emotions running through him that he just didn't know what he was feeling.

"Why tell me this now? I mean I'm hardly powerful enough to take on a dark lord, I'm just eleven, almost twelve years old and I've just joined a wizard school and have just begun to learn magic."

" ** _I told you, to save your life from the troll I had to force my way through the block on your magic and because of that I had to bring you here or it would result in the self destruction of your magic. I told you due to that there were unforeseen consequences."_**

"Are you going to tell me what consequences?" he asked hesitantly, feeling afraid.

" ** _Yes, this is the only time we will ever meet like this. The owner of the Death Stick can be pulled into this world only once and never again. You will never be able to talk to me again unless you unbind your magic. Even then I will only be able whisper spells to you when you are in mortal danger._**

 ** _I said there were consequences for pulling you in this world when your magic was bound. Because I did that, the block on your magic is spreading and limiting your usage of magic. It will keep spreading like a virus until it binds your magical core completely and when that happens, you will die."_**

Harry's heart started beating wildly behind his ribs; he was feeling fear, fear of dying. His breath was coming short and panic was engulfing him. He felt like he was at the bottom of a hole, a hole from which there was no escape. Terror began to dominate his senses and tears were dripping from his wide, frightened eyes.

" ** _Calm down, Harry,"_** the voice whispered and instantly Harry felt his fear melting away and he could feel himself calming down.

" ** _In times like these you should keep a cool head and not lose yourself to the fear of death. If you feel fear and if you become desperate you will be attracted to the dark arts and if the one with the power to use me gets attracted to the dark arts it will be the end of everything."_**

"How can I force myself to be calm when you've just told me that I am going to die if I don't unbind my magic? I don't even know the first thing about blocks on magic!" Harry screamed.

" ** _That only you can do, I cannot help you when I do not know how your magic has come to be bound. Now it will soon be time for you to leave so ask whatever you want to ask and I will answer it them the best I can."_**

Harry thought for a moment and then began asking the questions that had been running through his head since he had come here. "What is that huge mix of water and ice?" he asked pointing to the silent swirling mass of water and ice.

" ** _That is your core, the centre of your magical core. It is the place from where your magic comes. Right now you are not even using 50 percent of your core. The foul black poison that hurled you back is not part of you. The spell binding your magic has now mixed with it and is spreading. That is what you have to destroy."_**

"Why did I feel cold when I came here? I mean I have never felt cold in my entire life and I felt like I was going to freeze here."

" ** _You are in a world created by your subconscious. It is the world of your magic and the world is created on the basis of what your magic desires. But because you are inside your magic you will not be able to use magic."_**

"Ok you have successfully confused me. What you are saying is that I am inside my magic? And because I am inside my magic I cannot use magic?"

" ** _Yes."_**

"So that means my magic has been protecting me from the cold?"

" ** _I cannot answer that question. You have to discover your own potential and skills. No one else can do it for you. They can only help you improve your skills."_**

"Oh, ok," Harry muttered. "You know your voice changes every now and then, the place from where your voice comes from changes every minute or so though I've somewhat gotten used to it, but the tone of your voice hasn't changed at all."

" ** _I told you to ask questions, not make statements."_**

"Grouch," Harry muttered under his breath, "How can you talk? I mean do you have a brain of your own or something?"

" ** _I am conscious of my surroundings. Everything I sense I learn; everything I hear I remember."_**

"So that means your knowledge of spells is infinite since you're so old!" Harry said getting excited.

" ** _Yes, but I cannot teach you."_**

"Why the hell not?"

" ** _I already told you before; I can only help you when you are in need."_**

Harry racked his brain to ask him or her or rather his wand another question, "How long do I have until my magic is completely bound?"

" ** _One year."_**

"A year to prevent death," Harry muttered to himself.

" ** _It is time for you to leave Harry. You will never be able to come back here again and I wish you luck."_**

Before Harry could say anything the water he was standing on opened up and he fell through. He yelling in shock and woke up in his body screaming.

He blinked once, twice and then realized he was in the hospital wing.

He slowly tried sitting up but found it too painful. He looked around searching for his wand and found Lillian's wand on the side table.

"What the hell is her wand doing here? Where is my wand?" he muttered to himself.

Suddenly someone spoke through the darkness, "Harry! Harry you awake?"

He recognized the voice as Lillian's, "What are you doing here Austin? And where's my wand?"

"I have your wand with me, I hid it so that the professors wouldn't see it," she whispered and handed it back to him.

Harry was surprised at her quick thinking. "Thanks I guess. So what are you doing here? How long have I been here?"

"You've been here for a few hours, I've been sneaking in trying to see how you were doing and got caught several times," she said taking her wand from the side table.

"Thanks for your concern but I don't need it Freckles."

He could practically see her glare through the dark. Suddenly he heard someone opening the door and so did Lillian. She quickly slid under the bed before anybody could see her.

The door was shut and the headmaster came into view.

"Good evening Harry, I'm glad to see you up," he said.

"Good evening to you to headmaster," Harry said.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore," he replied.

"Ms. Austin told me what happened when the troll attacked. I must say it was real brave of you to protect her the way you did. I'm very proud of you."

Harry smirked, now was a time to have some fun, "Yes sir, I know. She was terrified down there, I mean she was crying and was screaming for me to help her so I really didn't have a choice. It was either save her or listen to her wail."

He could feel her kicking his bed from below and was struggling to hold his laughter.

"That sounds quite unlike her. Ms. Austin has been most concerned about your health," he said. "She has sneaked in here quite a number of times in the past 5 hours."

"Really," Harry said feigning surprise. "I suppose you punished her."

"No, no, just docked a few points, however if she sneaks in again, I just might have to give her detention."

"That's good professor, the rules of the school must be held in high regard," he said nodding his head seriously. "If I caught her sneaking in here would you give the Slytherin house points?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "No, I'm afraid not."

"I see," Harry muttered "Is there anything else you wanted professor, I'd like to go to sleep and be healed so that I can return to my dorm."

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "And do you by any chance remember what spell you cast on the troll Harry?"

"No professor, I'm afraid not, I was just desperate to get away from the troll and a word popped into my head and I said it. The next moment I see the troll falling and Lillian screaming. The next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Dumbledore didn't say anything but just looked into Harry's eyes. After a moment he stood up and said goodbye and left. Just as he left Harry heard him mutter, "Occlumency shields at this age," and he couldn't hear the rest.

As soon as he left Lillian slid out, stood up and whacked him on his head.

"What the fuck?" he yelped "You want me to tell Madam Pomfrey you're here?" he demanded.

"Shut up," she hissed angrily. "You almost gave me away for house points,"

"Of course! You lion, me snake, in other words _mortal enemies_ ," he drawled.

"Whatever, I can't believe I actually came to see how you were doing," she muttered. "Good night," she said and left before Harry could comment.

As soon as she left Harry mind drifted back to his conversation with his wand. There were only two options in his mind. One was become strong and get rid of the block and the other was death.

Death was _certainly_ the option to be eliminated.

 ** _End Flashback_**

Harry sighed and fell back on his bed throwing the book he had aside. He had been cooped up in his room for a week and hadn't come out much ever since. He had been so busy reading the books he had got that he had been leaving the room only for eating and for bathing.

He got up and opened his window and sat on the window sill. Sitting at the edge of the window always made him feel better.

The moment he sat there he started sweating and feeling hot. That was the main reason he hated summer. It made him feel hot, sweaty and for some reason, weak.

He sighed again and was about to shut his window to prevent the hot air from entering when he happened to look at the hedge and was shocked to see a pair of huge yellow eyes staring back at him. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing right and when he opened his eyes again they were gone.

He wondered why Blaise hadn't written back to him when he had written so many times to him. Hedwig had always come back looking a bit irritated after delivering the letter.

He glanced at the clock and saw it was lunch time. All the Dursley's were already at the table when he came down. Dudley and his uncle had their plates overflowing as usual, his aunt had hardly anything on her plate and he was pleased to see his plate had portions rivalling his uncle's and Dudley's.

He glanced at his aunt Petunia, the question clear in his eyes.

"You're not getting dinner tonight, the Masons are coming over at 8.00 and we do not want them to see you," she said stiffly.

"Leave something by the door before they come," he said. "I'm not missing a meal because of your guests."

"You will remain in your bedroom for the rest of the day and will not come down until tomorrow morning," Vernon growled irritated by his response.

Harry shrugged and muttered, "Suits me just fine," and began to dig into his food looking forward to going back to his books.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – The Power of a House Elf and Back to Hogwarts**

Elves were once said to be the most beautiful creatures to walk on this planet. To lay sight upon one was considered to be a blessing and promise of good things to come. So then the question begs to be asked, do house elves and these elves have any connection between them?

Harry was reading a chapter on the myth of elves and how the house elves came into existence.

According to the book many centuries or perhaps even millenia ago elves and humans lived together in peace and harmony. They usually kept to themselves and did not interfere in the business of humans. Their vision was said to greater than any living creature, they could spot a snake moving in the sand from great distances and they were also capable of judging a man by looking into his soul. They moved with such grace that it felt and looked like they were part of a gentle breeze flowing through the lands. Their skill in healing could be matched by no man and their arms for open to any being was in need to be healed, be it physical or mental injuries.

But peace as always is never meant to last forever. A group of elves attracted by the powers wielded by a wizard decided to find to find a way to obtain those powers in an attempt to become even more powerful. For such peaceful creatures, even the thought of attempting such a thing was considered sacrilege.

The elves were captured before they could go through with their plan and were summoned by the elders, who ruled over the Elvin kingdom. The elves who tried to commit this offence were deeply ashamed of their actions and begged for forgiveness.

But the elders did not forgive them. They concluded that being in contact with humans had begun to corrupt their kind and it was time to leave these lands forever. The guilty elves instead of being executing, were cursed to lead a life of a slave, to become a slave to wizards and suffer for eternity.

The descendants of these elves are still among the living and are now commonly known as house elves. Whether or not they retained their powers is unproven.

This is the legend about the house elves and most historians have concluded it to simply be a story for children passed on over the ages. A fairy tale about what should happen should you do wrong. None of these theories/stories have any concrete evidence and nobody really knows how the house elf came into existence.

Today the house elf is just a slave in the household of a rich wizarding family and the house elf cannot leave the family unless it is set free which is considered to be a disgrace to the house elf. It is said that house elves have powerful magic of their own but seldom use it. The master of the house elf can order the house elf to use magic and it is unclear if the elves are capable of using magic without being ordered to do so.

Nobody can break the bond tying the house elf to its master unless the master gives the house elf clothes thus freeing it.

Harry sighed and shut the book with a snap, he didn't need to know about house elf history, he needed to know how to unbind his magic, he thought bitterly.

"BOY!" he heard his uncle yelling. "BOY, GET DOWN HERE!"

Harry sighed. He slid the book under his bed and went downstairs grumbling all the way to see what his uncle wanted now.

"Yes, uncle Vernon?" he said politely "You called?"

"Yes, take your dinner and don't come down until we call you again, don't make a sound, don't say a word, pretend you don't exist or else…"

He left the threat hanging in the air.

Harry was surprised they were actually giving him his meal when they had decided not to. He stood there not moving until his uncle yelled again.

"Boy, go upstairs now! The Masons will be here soon!"

Harry nodded and quickly went upstairs before Vernon decided to take his food back even if it was just cheese and bread.

He heard the bell ringing and quickly entered his room and shut his door. He went to sit on his bed but almost dropped his plate in shock.

There was already someone or rather something on it staring at him with big wide yellow eyes. They stared at each other for a while until Harry blurted out, "Who are you?"

"I is Dobby sir! Dobby the house elf!" it said enthusiastically in a high pitched voice jumping down from his bed. "So long Dobby has wanted to meet you sir, such an honor it is to meet the great Harry Potter…."

"I don't mean to be rude but is there a reason you are in my room?" ignoring the house elf's praises.

"Oh, yes, sir" the house elf said earnestly, "But Dobby has come to tell you… but Dobby doesn't know where to begin…" it said hesitantly.

Harry put his plate on the bed side table and sat on his bed. "Why don't you think and then tell me what the hell are you here to tell me," he said sharply.

"Harry Potter is so kind and noble," the house elf whimpered in joy "So brave and gentle, so handsome…"

Harry just stood there completely bemused while the elf continued to shower him with praises. "Dobby, tell me why are you here?" he snapped when the elf didn't stop.

"Dobby has heard that you has faced the dark lord and escaped once again a few weeks ago!"

"Yes I know, is that why you're here?" Harry asked and then added sarcastically, "You want to congratulate me or something?"

"No, no, Dobby is here to warn you sir!" the house elf said shaking his head vigorously making his bat like ears shake.

"Warn me?"

"Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

Harry's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"W-what!" he growled.

"There is a plot, Harry Potter sir, a plot to make the most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts and put himself in mortal danger!"

"What plot?" Harry asked immediately "Who's plotting them? Tell me!" he demanded.

Dobby made a choking noise and before he could stop him he began banging his head on the wall.

"Stop! What in heavens name are you doing?" he hissed.

Dobby kept banging his head on the wall squealing in pain very time his head made contact with the wall. Harry grabbed him by his clothes and held him in the air forcing him to stop hurting himself.

"Why the hell did you start banging your head on the wall!" Harry asked him incredulously.

Dobby looked at Harry miserably, "Dobby cannot betray or speak ill about his master or Dobby will have to punish himself very badly."

"Your family doesn't know you are here?"

Dobby shook his head, "Dobby will have to punish himself for coming to visit Harry Potter without master's permission."

"Who is your master?"

Dobby opened his mouth and then caught his throat and started squeezing it, trying to choke himself.

"Alright, alright stop! You don't have to tell me!" Harry whispered frantically afraid the Dursley's might hear the noise the elf was making.

Dobby left his throat and fell to the ground panting, "Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts. Dobby cannot let anything happen to the great Harry Potter."

Harry took a deep breath and was about to refuse when he spotted the book he was reading earlier. He remembered the chapter on house elves and their supposed healing powers. He was struck by a brain wave, what if this elf could remove his magic block? If he could do it would he do it? Or would he insist that Harry not go back to Hogwarts in exchange for removing the block?

Don't get your hopes high, he thought. For all you know the elf wouldn't be able to remove it.

"Dobby," he began "You don't want me to go to Hogwarts because I could die due to the dangers there right?"

Dobby nodded.

"Well it will do you no good because I will be dead by the end of this year," he said doing his best to look dejected. It wasn't that hard because he _knew_ he would be dead if the block was not removed!

"What is Harry Potter saying! Harry Potter cannot die, he will be safe here!" the elf said panicking.

"You don't understand Dobby. My magic has been bound by someone years ago and now if that block is not removed I will die by the end of this year."

"No, no Harry Potter cannot die! Harry Potter is much too precious! He cannot die," Dobby said covering his ears and shaking his head, tears threatening to spill from his big yellow eyes.

"But if the block is removed I will be saved Dobby," he said bending down and looking into the big yellow eyes of the house elf. "Can you help me Dobby, elves are supposed to have some powers of their own don't they? Can you help me remove this block and save my life?"

Dobby looked at Harry tears now dropping slowly, "Dobby can try, but Dobby will help try and remove the block only if Harry Potter promises not to go back to Hogwarts."

"I cannot do that Dobby, but I can promise to stay out of trouble and go to the headmaster if anything happens."

"No Harry Potter sir, a great evil will be unleashed at Hogwarts! Not even Albus Dumbledore can do anything to stop it!"

"Remove my block first if you can and then we will discuss about me going to Hogwarts or not," Harry said firmly, he was going to Hogwarts one way or the other and this elf was not going to stop him.

"Harry Potter must first promise not to go to Hogwarts this year!" the elf said, not backing down.

Harry wanted to strangle the elf in his frustration. He calmed himself down and decided to try a different tactic, "do you like being a slave Dobby?"

Dobby looked confused by the change in topic but shook his head in negative nonetheless.

"If you help me remove my block I promise to help free you."

Dobby's lower lip trembled, "Such a great wizard Harry Potter is, he is wanting to help a house elf like Dobby to be free from his dark master," as soon as the words left his mouth his eyes widened in horror, he took the lamp from Harry's bedside and started banging it over his head screaming, "Bad Dobby, bad Dobby," over and over again.

"Stop it!" Harry hissed "What's wrong now!" he said grabbing the elf and holding him up. The elf struggled for a while before falling limp in Harry's hands.

As soon as Dobby fell silent he heard his someone stomping up the stairs laughing and saying, "Dudley must have left the T.V switched on, the little tyke."

Harry quickly shoved Dobby in the closet and jumped on his bed. At the same time he heard his room being unlocked and Vernon came in looking like a mad bull.

"What on earth are you doing here, boy," he hissed angrily "you ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke!"

"Sorry uncle Vernon, I fell out of my bed, it won't happen again."

"It better not or you'll be wishing you were never born boy," he hissed menacingly and left the room locking it as he went out.

Harry sighed and went and opened the closet pulling Dobby out. "You see why I can't stay here, my relatives hate me and I hate them. Hogwarts is the only place I can call home and where I _think_ I actually have friends."

"Friends who don't even write to you, Harry Potter sir?" Dobby said slyly.

"Well I think Blaise is busy, I've sent him at least three to four letters and he hasn't responded but… wait a minute, how do you know he hasn't been writing to me?" asked Harry suspiciously.

Dobby shifted awkwardly looking at his feet, "Dobby did it for the best, Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby."

"Have you been stopping my letters Dobby?"

Dobby mumbled something and pulled out a thick wad of envelopes and put them on the bed.

Harry gritted his teeth in anger but somehow in a controlled voice he said, "Letter don't matter to me right now Dobby. But if you can remove the block on my magic, I am begging you to do it. You said you want to protect me and save me from death, so if you really mean it, please remove the block."

Dobby looked a little apprehensive before he finally nodded in agreement. He motioned for Harry to lie down on the floor. "Dobby has never tried this before Harry Potter sir, but Dobby has the power to remove the block. It will hurt a lot until the block is removed," the little elf said looking extremely nervous.

Harry nodded and lay on the floor excitement and fear rushing through his veins, his heart pounding in anticipation of what was to come. He took a deep breath, "Alright Dobby, do it."

Dobby placed his hands on Harry's stomach. He closed his eyes and slowly his hands began to glow black. He dug his nails into Harry's stomach drawing blood causing Harry to wince in pain. The black light crawled over Dobby's hands like ripples in water before shooting into Harry's stomach. As soon as the light went in Harry felt like his insides had caught fire, he opened his mouth to scream in pain, only no voice came out. He tired to move and break Dobby's hold on him but find he was incapable of moving at the moment, it was like his body had completely frozen except for the pain rushing through his body.

All he wanted at that moment was the pain to go. He didn't notice how all the objects in the room were vibrating slightly nor did he notice Dobby remove his hands from Harry's stomach pulling out a foul smelling greenish black smoke that rose from the small holes made by the elf's nails on his stomach.

Dobby snapped his fingers and the smoke vanished. The wound on Harry's stomach remained and he felt the pain slowly disappearing but the pain in his stomach remained.

Harry slowly opened his eyes trying to get his breathing under control. He saw Dobby standing over him looking worried and concerned and he realized that he was completely drenched in sweat.

"I-is it gone?" he asked Dobby wearily, touching his stomach gently and wincing.

"Yes, Harry Potter sir, it is gone. Dobby sensed the block and removed it Harry Potter sir, your magic is completely under your control now."

Harry didn't know what to do, he felt like yelling in victory, felt like dancing and felt like he owned the world at the moment. He tried to stand up but immediately his head spun and he fell on his bed. He suddenly felt horribly weak and helpless.

"You must rest for a few days Harry Potter sir, then you will feel perfectly fine."

Harry looked at the elf and started chuckling and shaking his head, "I can't believe it," he said looking terribly amused "All this time I've been looking in every book I could find which said anything about binding ones magic and all I had to do was find a house elf who removed it in less than a minute!"

He sat up and looked at the elf that had practically saved his life, "Dobby, I promise you I will find a way to free you from the family you are bound to," said Harry sincerely.

"Dobby doesn't care about that Harry Potter sir, all Dobby wants is for Harry Potter to be safe. He is much too important to lose."

Harry shook his head, "You just saved my life Dobby, the least I can do is free you, and you want to be free don't you?"

Dobby nodded and said "Dobby wants to be free but he also does not want Harry Potter to return to Hogwarts this year! He has to stay in this house where he is safe!"

"Dobby if I stay here my relatives will kill me. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm not a helpless wizard you know," Harry said chuckling. "I'm going back to Hogwarts no matter what you try to do, the only way you can stop me is if you get me expelled."

"Then Dobby shall get you expelled, Dobby will not allow Harry Potter to go to Hogwarts this year," the elf said firmly and opened the door to his room with a snap of his fingers and hurried downstairs.

"Wait, what! Dobby, where are you going?" Harry asked panicking "Dobby stop!" he whispered harshly but the elf just ran down. Harry cursed and ran after the elf but almost fell as he couldn't stand considering how weak he was. He somehow dragged his body down to prevent Dobby from doing anything stupid.

He rushed into the kitchen, his eyes scanning the area looking for the elf. His insides turned to lead as he spotted the elf standing on the cupboard in the corner and hovering near the roof was Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding.

"Dobby, what are you doing!" Harry hissed panicking.

"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school."

"Dobby, stop this insanity! If you do that there will be no Harry Potter in this world!"

"Say it Harry Potter, sir," the elf said, ignoring Harry.

"Dobby, please think about what you are doing," Harry tired desperately.

The elf gave him a tragic look, "Then Dobby must do it for Harry Potter's safety," he said and vanished with a whip like cracking sound. Harry stared in horror as the pudding fell in slow motion, but just before it hit the ground Harry threw out his hands and stopped the bowl from crashing on the floor, the jelly wobbling dangerously. He levitated it and put it back in its original place, just as Vernon came into the kitchen.

"What are you doing down here!" his uncle hissed dangerously.

"Nothing, I was feeling hungry so I came down for a bite," Harry lied smoothly.

Vernon narrowed his eyes and his face turned red with fury, "There is some ham and bread in the fridge, take it and get out," he said, gritting his teeth.

It showed how important this deal was to his uncle that he didn't even attempt to smack him. He quickly grabbed the food and ran back upstairs to his room and collapsed on his bed. Two minutes later he heard a distinct growl coming from his stomach, he realized that he hadn't eaten the food his aunt and given him because of Dobby's arrival. He grabbed both plates and began to eat with vigor.

As Harry ate, he thought about Dobby, the psychotic house elf, who saved his life and yet wanted to destroy it. "What kind of danger could Hogwarts be in?" he mused.

Fifteen minutes later if anybody looked into Harry Potter's room, they would have seen a room littered with books, clothes, a few drops of blood smeared near his bed and Harry Potter himself fast asleep fully clothed, hugging his wand close to his heart.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The light filtering through the windows fell upon his eyes disturbing his comfortable sleep. Groaning he cracked an eyelid open and turned to his bedside table and checked the time… it was noon. He yawned and sat up on his bed rubbing his eyes.

He wondered why he was all dressed when memories of last night's happenings assaulted him. His face broke out into a large grin and he was filled with a large sense of happiness. Dobby had unbound his magic! He jumped out of his bed exuberantly and decided to test his magic.

He pointed his right hand towards the bed and concentrated on levitating it. To his shock and surprise, the bed shot up like an arrow and slammed into the ceiling causing the ceiling to crack and the bed came crashing down making a hell of a noise.

Harry was absolutely stunned. But he was broken out of his trance when he heard his door being violently opened and his uncle came in, huffing like a mad man.

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU DOING THAT MADE THE HOUSE RATTLE!" he bellowed.

Harry pretended to be confused, "Make the house shake? What are you talking about uncle?" he said looking bewildered.

"Don't play innocent with me boy," he growled, baring his teeth "I know you did something freakish in here."

"Sorry uncle Vernon, I have no clue what you're talking about," he said innocently "I just woke up because I thought my bed was shaking but then you came barging in like a hippo and I thought it was you," Harry said, desperately trying not to laugh.

Vernon's face turned purple and his fists shook in anger, it was a rather scary sight but Harry stood there not intimidated in the slightest. He had gotten used to that look a long time ago.

"Must have been a slight tremor uncle Vernon, you might want to check the news if there are any reports of earthquakes occurring nearby," he said seriously, concealing his grin expertly.

Immediately Vernon blanched and fear took over his features as he bolted from the room yelling for his aunt as he ran down to the kitchen.

As soon as he left Harry burst out laughing. He laughed until tears were pouring from his eyes. "Buffoon," he gasped, wiping his tears of laughter. A few minutes later when he had managed to get himself under control, he looked at his hands in amazement. He hadn't realized removing his block would have had such an effect on his magic.

He raised his hands towards the bed and made it levitate carefully controlling the amount of magic he used. This time the bed smoothly rose into the air. Harry closed his eyes and willed all the items in the room to float. Instantly every item in his room began to rise in the air.

He made everything to go higher and higher until he heard a high pitched scream coming from downstairs and his uncle was yelling something about freaks and monsters.

His eyes shot open when he realized every thing in the house was levitating! He looked out of his window and saw that a few objects were levitating outside too! Grinning lightly but not losing his concentration, he gently made everything come back to their original positions, before anybody outside noticed.

He waited for his uncle to come up and start yelling again but surprisingly nobody came and there was utter silence in the house. Harry couldn't believe it. The Dursley's passing up a chance to yell at him? Maybe they finally realized that they couldn't do anything to him when he had the power of magic at his finger tips.

Harry sighed blissfully and made his way to the bathroom. He had finally decided to wash up when he smelt his armpits and almost retched. He was in for yet another surprise while he was washing his face. Every time his hands touched the water, it would pull strands of water back along with it and would fall off only when he shook his hands vigorously. He frowned at this new development and found that while taking a shower too the water kept clinging to his body and was extremely hard to shake of his body. It was almost like the water wanted to stay close to him, but the weirdest thing was he seemed to enjoy it. The every touch of water was so comforting to his body that he didn't know what to think of it.

He decided to ponder over this new ability of his later as he was feeling ravenous and felt like he could eat a whole turkey in one go.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A few days later, on 31 July, an owl came swooping in Harry's room and dropped a heavy package on the said wizard's head, who was deep in concentration holding a small ball of swirling water in his hand.

"What the…!" he yelped as the package fell painfully on his head and the ball of water splashed on his bed. "Bloody owl… couldn't drop the package anywhere else," he grumbled as he opened the box.

He pulled out the letter and saw it was from Blaise.

 _Hey Harry,_

 _Finally you reply to my letters! Happy birthday to you! I hope the owl delivered the package on your head (evil grin). Anyway the gift will be worth it, it's a complete set of rare books on defense against the dark arts, charms and transfiguration I found in the library in my house which by the way nobody ever goes to. It contains all advanced spells and complicated shit that I couldn't understand at all! I figured since you spend almost all your time reading books back at Hogwarts, you'd appreciate more advanced books!_

 _Hope you're fine and don't let the muggles bully you,_

 _Blaise_

"Bloody Blaise," Harry said ripping open the package, "He really knows what I want best!"

Inside there were five ancient looking thick books each having an impressive name. Harry looked at the books in awe vowing to finish them before he gets back to Hogwarts.

Another owl flew into his room and dropped a letter bearing the Hogwarts seal. "Finally, book lists arrive," he muttered, as broke the wax seal and pulled out a parchment.

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

"What the hell? Who on earth is this Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry wondered. He idly flicked his wand at the books Blaise sent him banishing them into his trunk. "Hmmm and how am I supposed to get to Diagon alley?" he thought "Will aunt Petunia take me….?" "Oh shit!" he cursed "did I just do magic!" he yelped leaping from his bed.

"Shit I just did magic!" he said frantically looking around for an owl announcing his expulsion from school "What am I going to do! What am I going to do!" he groaned panicking. He kept pacing up and down in his room not realizing that an owl hadn't arrived and nor was it going to arrive. "I know what I'll do, I'll run, I can say some other wizard stole my wand or something or maybe….." Suddenly he stopped and realized no owl had come.

He calmed down and looked confused, "Why on earth has no owl arrived? Am I allowed to do magic?" he waited for another 15 minutes and when there was so sign of any owl he raised his wand hesitantly and cast a cleaning charm in his room. Immediately everything flew back to their respective places and there wasn't even a speck of dirt was left.

Harry waited holding his breath for the letter to arrive but none came. He looked at his wand incredulously, "How is this possible! McGonagall told me if we use magic outside school we would be expelled!" he said hoping for an answer from the ever mysterious wand, but unfortunately the wand didn't bother to say anything.

Harry frowned and his mind was working at furious speeds, "Is it because of you isn't it? You being an all powerful wand capable of destroying evil, so if I do magic with you it won't be detected?" he said looking at his wand, but as expected he didn't get any reply.

A few minutes later, Harry's face broke out into a truly delightful grin, "I can do magic outside school!" he said in awe. "This is truly the best birthday ever! Now all I need to do is convince aunt Petunia to take me into London."

" _Conceal yourself_ ," he said and there was a flash of white light and his wand vanished.

Harry casually entered the kitchen were his aunt was busy preparing lunch. "What do you want?" she snapped as soon as she saw him "I'm busy at the moment."

"My apologies aunt Petunia," Harry said politely.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you could take me to London within the week, I have to buy my school supplies."

"So go on your own, I don't have time to take you to London," she said stiffly and resumed her work.

"I would, but wouldn't it be odd to see a small 12 year old shopping all alone in London? One might wonder what kind of guardians the boy has," Harry said, knowing how the Dursley's were when it came to their public image.

Petunia glared at him but Harry was unfazed, "Alright, I'll be going to buy grocery supplies tomorrow and you can tag along."

"Thank you aunt Petunia," Harry said thankful that she had agreed.

"But I don't want you to come back with me, go and stay in one of your freakish friends house and come back next summer," she said with a tone of finality.

Harry was stunned for a moment but composed himself quickly, "Alright aunt Petunia, if that's what you wish," he replied and left the kitchen. "I can stay at the leaky cauldron, I can buy more books and practice more magic," he thought as he went upstairs.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry stood in front of the leaky cauldron as he watched his aunt and uncle drive away happy to be rid of him. "Idiots," he scoffed as he walked towards the famous pub.

"Excuse me, I would like to rent a room please," Harry said getting the bartenders attention.

"Rent a room huh, aren't you a little too young to be living alone? Where are your parents?" Tom the bartender asked suspiciously.

"They left for vacation, I didn't want to go so they agreed to let me stay here alone," Harry lied smoothly, he had was wearing a baseball cap which covered his scar and cast a shadow over his face, so that nobody would recognize him, out of the many things he hated, being hero worshipped was right at the top of the list.

Tom stared at him for a moment before flicking his wand and summoning a register. "Sign here and till when you'll be staying," he grunted.

Harry took the quill and signed his name as Harry not wanting people rushing at him if they found out who he was and wrote September 1st as his leaving date.

"Hogwarts student are you?" he asked. Harry nodded. "Right follow me and I'll show you your room."

Harry followed Tom up the stairs and stopped on the 3rd floor, he walked up to a door with the number 321 and opened it with his wand. "Alright son, this is your room till the 1st of September. You can pay now or before you leave, it's up to you. If you need anything just tap your wand on the little black ball beside the bed. Your food will be sent up magically and the cleaning lady will come every morning at 8.00. Now do you have any questions?"

"No thank you sir," Harry said politely "If you don't mind I'd like to settle in," he said and walked into his new room. Tom shut the door as he left. Harry walked up to the window and saw that it over looked the Muggle London.

He pulled out a small box from his pocket and waved his wand over it causing it to enlarge into his trunk. Harry summoned the books Blaise sent him and began to read eager to learn new spells and techniques.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **One week later**

Harry made his way to Gringotts in need of money to buy the books assigned to them this year. He pushed through the crowd of people and went up to one of the counters and pulled out his key. "Excuse me, master goblin, I would like to make a withdrawal please," he said politely to the goblin.

The goblin looked down at him from his high chair and sneered, "Your key?"

"Right here," Harry said giving the goblin his key.

"Very well, all seems to be in order Mr. Potter," he said.

"Ah wait, would you be kind enough to tell me how much money I have in my vault?" asked Harry. Before buying his books, he needed to know how much money he had, not judge his riches by seeing piles of gold in a vault.

The goblin narrowed his eyes irritably, "Go to room 746 and ask for Bronzespear," he said handing Harry his key.

Harry took his key back and made his way to room 746. Outside the room a goblin guard stopped him, "Purpose of visiting Mr. Bronzespear," it said in a monotonous voice.

"Err… to check my account balance," Harry said nervously, eying the armed goblin.

"Name?"

"Harry James Potter."

The goblin glared at Harry and then stepped aside, "Enter," it said and opening the door for Harry.

Harry entered the room to find a goblin sitting behind a gold, silver table with various stacks of papers around him. The goblin himself was ancient looking and had half moon spectacles similar to the headmasters.

"Yes?" the goblin said, not looking up from whatever he was doing.

"Err… I was told to meet a Mr. Bronzespear if I wanted to check my account balance," Harry said, wondering why they would send him to such a goblin that looked like he dealt only with rich families.

"Name?"

"Harry James Potter."

Finally the goblin looked up and glanced at Harry, "Take a seat Mr. Potter," he said snapping his fingers to summon a file to him.

"You are here to inquire about the balance in your vaults? Am I correct?"

"Yes, but what do you mean vaults?

The goblin looked annoyed, "Obviously you have not been informed about your family fortunes Mr. Potter. You should know that I deal only with rich and ancient families and your father's family is one of the few oldest families I have dealt with."

Harry just stared at the goblin dumbly.

"Right, so as for your balance as you put it," said Bronzespear, sounding irritated for having to deal with a small kid. "You have three vaults, one being the main family vault, one being your trust vault which is under the control of your guardian and another vault which is said to contain priceless ancient artifacts and portraits and other treasures which are not known except for those who have visited the vault.

Now your trust vault is refilled every year to a total of 50,000 galleons and your family vault contains a total of nine hundred thousand galleons and a number of sickles and Knuts."

"W-what!" Harry stammered "My main vault contains about a million galleons!"

"Yes Mr. Potter and you also have two properties. One is the family manor whose location I do not know and the other is Godric's hollow which is now nothing but a pile of rubble now. Now do you have any questions?"

"Lots," Harry muttered making the goblin frown.

"Tell me Mr. Bronzespear, how come I wasn't informed of all this the first time I came to Gringotts?"

"It is the responsibility of your magical guardian Mr. Potter, not the responsibility of Gringotts," Bronzespear snapped.

"Who is my magical guardian? As far as I know the only guardians I have are the Dursley's and they certainly aren't magical," Harry said a little confused.

"Your magical guardian is Mr. Albus Dumbledore, who gained custody over you after your parents were murdered. It is his responsibility to inform you of your inheritance whenever he feels like it. But that doesn't mean he has control over any of your vaults, they are solely under your control irrespective of your age since you are the last Potter in the Potter Bloodline."

"So the headmaster is my guardian in this world and I never knew and he knew all about my inheritance and saw fit not to tell me about it?" Harry said with a hint of anger seeping into his voice.

"Like I said, it would be his decision as to when to enlighten you of the fact that you are rich and the heir to an ancient family," the goblin said in a bored tone.

"You said something about a family home?"

"Yes, Potter Manor."

"How do I get there?"

"I told you we don't know where it is. Only a Potter can disclose the location or someone who knows the location. Maybe if you visit your vaults you will get the answers you need," the goblin said irritably.

"Right, so can I visit these vaults?" Harry asked, his anger evaporating and curiously replacing it.

"PROUDFEET," the goblin called, and a small goblin hobbled in.

"Take Mr. Potter to his family vault and instruct him on how to open it. Take Clankers and leave now," the goblin said dismissing Harry.

The goblin known as Proudfeet beckoned Harry to follow him and they left the office and entered a different door having the rail tracks leading to the vaults. Harry got in along with the goblin and the cart shot of into the darkness.

The cart kept going and going not stopping at high speeds taking much more time then it took to reach his other vault. After a twenty minute ride they stopped near a huge dragon!

Harry was both awed and terrified at the sight of the dragon.

"Stay behind me human," said Proudfeet with a smirk. He pulled out a leather bag from the cart and removed a metallic device from within. With a small metal rod and hit the device which emitted a sound which made Harry's head vibrate. On hearing the sound the dragon roared and stepped aside revealing a small entrance.

"Follow me quick," the goblin commanded and they entered into a small corridor behind the dragon where the dragon could not reach them.

"Inside are the two vaults that belong to you now, just put your hand on the hand imprint on the vault doors and if you are a Potter you will be granted permission to enter, if not you die and i feed you to the dragon. I you live I shall wait for you here."

"It will kill me if I'm not a Potter?" Harry said weakly.

"Yes," the goblin said smirking evilly.

Harry gulped and walked the length of the tiny corridor until it opened out into a large area with two gold doors at each end.

Harry walked towards the vault to his left and placed his palm on the imprint on the door. He felt a tingling sensation running through the tip of his fingers traveling under his skin all the way up to his shoulder and a second later the door creaked open.

Harry walked in cautiously and the door shut with a snap and the torches flared to life inside the vault. The vault was a huge circular dome carved out of rocks. The ceiling looked like it would collapse any minute. "Must be held up by magic," he thought. In one corner of the huge vault was a huge shelf filled with books, in another corner were a number of portraits snoozing in their frames. There were various chests lying around and at the centre of the room were a number of columns with artifacts placed on them.

Harry was amazed at the contents of the vault. He had never expected to see books and painting inside a vault. He made his way to the centre where the artifacts were kept. There were rings, clothes, some weird items he didn't recognize, swords, gem stones, small cups with inscriptions on them and many other things he had never heard of. Plus the history of the artifact along with the name of the owner was written on the columns.

One particularly caught his eye; it was the silver ring with emeralds embedded in it and the name Salazar Slytherin was imprinted in small gold letter inside it.

Harry bent down to read the column, ' _This ring belonging to Salazar Slytherin was found in the forbidden forest by Jeffrey Potter the 3rd. The ring is said to have various magical properties and is supposed to be the key to finding Slytherin's life works which have been said to be truly the work of a genius._

 _According to our ancestors Slytherin had not known about magic until he was fourteen and was captured by the village folk and set to be burnt by the stake because of the unexplainable things that happened around him. He was rescued by mysterious Godric Gryffindor who lived deep within the forest. Gryffindor was the one who taught Slytherin about magic and helped him grow into a powerful wizard he was known to be._

 _Years later after Hogwarts was built each founder built one magical artifact of their own as a symbol of the effort they put into building the school. Slytherin made a ring which also served as a key, Gryffindor with the assistance of goblins, a sword as he was known for his skill with a blade, Rowena Ravenclaw a tiara which is said to give you infinite knowledge and Helga Hufflepuff a cup with healing powers._

 _Nobody knows what happened afterwards but it is known that after a long time of peace and harmony there was great argument between Slytherin and Gryffindor which ended up in a duel to death within the forest of doom where Slytherin lost and fled from the school never to be seen again.'_

Harry was amazed. Who would have thought Slytherin was practically a Muggleborn. Harry picked up the ring and tried to put in on his left hand forefinger but every time he brought it closer to his finger it would just shrink and couldn't be put on. He tried it on every finger but it just would refuse to fit on Harry's fingers. Eventually Harry gave up and slid the ring into his pocket.

He explored the vault further and tried talking to the portraits but they just ignored him and continued snoozing in their frames. Finally Harry gave up and made his way to the bookshelves.

Half an hour later, Harry came out of the vault with a bottomless and weightless bag full of books he thought useful and made his way to the family vault in hopes of finding a way to his ancestral home.

His family vault was similar to his trust vault but bigger with a lot more money and hundreds of huge sacks of galleons scattered here and there. At one corner of the vault there was a golden desk with stacks of papers piled on it.

Harry made his way to the desk but when he reached it the desk was empty. Confused he looked around for the stacks of paper he saw earlier. He looked at the desk and saw something written on it.

 _Welcome,_

 _Ask for the parchment you wish to see and it shall be presented to you_

"Location of Potter ancestral home," he said clearly. Instantly a parchment appeared in front of him with a map on it.

Harry took it and to his dismay he couldn't understand any of it as it was written in a completely different language. He sighed and made a copy of the map with his wand. He left the copy on the table and pocketed the original. He thought of any other document he wanted to see when one struck his mind rather forcefully. Taking a deep breath he said, "Will of James and Lily Potter."

After a few seconds another parchment appeared. On it was written; _Will of James and Lily Potter is lost._

Harry frowned and wondered how on earth could a will be lost when this place would show him the location of their ancestral home. Not giving it much thought and realizing there was nothing else of interest in the vault, he scooped up a number of galleons and slipped them into his money bag and left the vault.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry strolled down Diagon alley casually after exiting Gringotts. He kept visiting random shops with no particular reason. He had decided to buy his school books before going back to his room later in the evening.

He made his way to Flourish and Blotts finally to buy his books and was surprised to find a huge crowd outside the famed book store. Scowling he pushed through all the fat ladies and entered the book shop.

On the entrance of the bookstore there was a huge banner.

GILDEROY LOCKHART

Will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

Today 12:30 P.m. to 4:30 P.m.

So that was the reason for the massive crowds thought Harry. "Might be interesting to meet this guy," he muttered. "After all, all our books for this year have been written by him."

"What are you muttering about kid?" said a witch irritably, a few paces beside him.

"Shut up hag," he spat back and turned away ignoring her gasp of outrage. Five minutes later he purchased all the books required and decided to have an ice cream from the ice cream parlor.

He sat outside the shop comfortably in one of the chairs watching all the people pushing each other to get their books autographed by Lockhart, who was sitting near the book shop in a temporary shed signing autographs.

Yawning he licked his ice cream enjoying the shivers it sent down his spine. He then spotted a bunch of very familiar looking people running towards the bookstore. His eyes widened in recognition. It was the Weasley's, Granger and Austin.

He saw Granger and the mother of the Weasley's shrieking and jumping in joy as they saw Lockhart stand up and get on the podium smiling, flashing his bright white teeth.

"Pathetic," he muttered rolling his eyes at their antics. Honestly, no need to act like fools, he thought. But when he got a good look of Lockhart he could help but doubt the man credentials. He certainly didn't look like the type of a man he claimed to be. His ice cream was almost over when he saw Malfoy and a man who had to be his father walk up to the Weasley's. He saw the elder Malfoy remove a book from the red head girl's cauldron and sneer at Weasley's father.

Harry snorted; trust a Malfoy to insult anyone they don't like. Suddenly the red head man leaped at Malfoy's dad and started pounding him. Both men rolled on the ground punching each other and crashed into a book shelf in the bookstore tipping the shelf over.

A few minutes later after the two men had broken apart, Malfoy snarled at Weasley and threw the book back into the girls cauldron and walk away his head high in the air.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. It was too amusing to see two grown men fight like five year old children.

"What are you laughing at Potter?"

Harry jumped, startled and looked around wildly to see who had recognized him. He turned to his left and there she was; her black hair glittering in the sun tied loosely into a pony tail, freckles splattered across her face standing with her hands folded watching him with narrowed eyes.

Harry narrowed his eyes at her and coolly responded, "Freckles, how did you recognize me?" he said smirking as he saw her scowl when he used the nickname he had given her.

"I'd recognize that laugh anywhere, having heard it so many times myself," she said scowling.

"Congratulations, you should take a job to recognize voices in the future. Now is there a particular reason you are here or is it just to compliment my voice and looks unlike your own," he said raising an eyebrow.

Her scowl deepened, "I wasn't…." she began coldly but was interrupted as Ron's called her.

"Hey, Mary! Mary," he shouted as the whole Weasley clan and Granger came towards her. Harry groaned.

"Whom are you talking to?" Ron asked her.

"I'm hurt Weasley, don't recognize your best friend?" Harry said in a mock hurt voice.

"Who are you?" Ron asked rudely.

Harry removed his cap and his dark hair fell over his eyes and stuck out at odd places. "Ta da," he said bowing to them.

"You!" he spat "What are you doing here?"

"Temper, temper Weasley, I don't need to explain myself to you," he turned to the mother, "You must be Mrs. Weasley, pleasure to meet you ma'am," he said politely giving her a small bow. "And you're Mr. Weasley," he said shaking the man's hand "I must say sir; you have a nasty right hook."

Mr. Weasley went red in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry but we didn't get your name," said Mr. Weasley.

"No? Ronald didn't tell you? I'm Harry Potter," he said.

The girl with the cauldron squeaked and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley paled.

"So you're Harry Potter," Mr. Weasley said nervously "Ron has told us quite a lot about you."

"I'm sure he has, though I hope none of it is bad."

"No, no, of course not," Mrs. Weasley said laughing nervously. "Well come on children, we have to get back," she said quickly.

"Mum…," began the small girl.

"Now Ginevra," Mrs. Weasley said sharply.

"Starting Hogwarts this year Ginevra?" Harry asked her kindly.

The girl nodded and blushed until her face resembled the color of her hair.

"Well hope to see you in Slytherin then," Harry said cheerfully as the family turned and left as fast as they came.

"Well see you later Harry," said Lillian a little hesitantly before she took off after the red head family.

Harry looked at her weirdly. That girl made no sense to him at all. One minute she'd be all hostile towards him and the next she'd look like she wanted to be his friend and would talk all nicely and all and the next minute she'd try and punch the daylights out of him. "Even more barmy than Dobby, that one is," he muttered as he made his way back to the leaky cauldron.

"I told you he was evil mum," muttered Ron.

"Honestly, he was just talking Ron. Don't listen to Ron Mrs. Weasley, he just hates Harry that's all," said Lillian.

"Yes, yes dear, now come along," she said distracted.

Nobody noticed there was an extra item in Ginny Weasley's cauldron. A small black diary with a malevolent presence about it.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

On September 1st 10.20 Am Harry had shrunk his trunk to the size of a matchbox and placed it in his pocket and was ready to leave for his second year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. He had been staying in the leaky cauldron for almost a month and he hadn't just wasted his time. He had made numerous trips to his library vault as he called it and had read as many books as possible about not only spells but also different fields of magic, runes being his favorite.

He had also been practicing his ability to conjure water without a wand or a spell. It was something that had happened after that crazy house elf had unbound his magic. Every time near water, it would leap up at him or it would suddenly just sprout out of his fingers. He had been trying to control it and had managed it to a certain degree.

Looking around the room once more checking if he had forgotten anything, he turned towards Hedwig his ever faithful owl and said, "Meet you in Hogwarts Hedwig," and went downstairs and paid Tom for his stay in the room.

"It was a pleasure having you here Harry," said Tom.

"It was great being here, maybe I can stay here next year too," Harry said grinning. "Say Tom, do you know how to get to platform 9 and 3 quarters from here?"

"Sure, you can take the floo or the knight bus," he said.

"Floo? What's that?" asked Harry never having heard that form of travel before.

"You never heard of floo travel!" Tom exclaimed incredulously. When Harry shook his head, he explained, "It's a way of traveling by the fire. I'm surprised with magical parents you never heard of floo travel before."

Harry laughed nervously, cursing his stupidity, "Na, my parents prefer Muggle ways of transport, so could you tell me how to use it?"

"Sure, you just take a pinch of floo powder which is in the pot next to the fire place, throw it into the fire, get in and yell your destination. Look that man is taking it right now," he said.

Harry saw the wizard take a pinch of the powder and throw it into the fire place and say something inaudible.

"Now you go Harry and keep your hands close to your body and say the destination clearly," said Tom.

Harry nodded and took a pinch of the powder and threw it in. The fire roared and turned emerald green.

"You know I never got your last name," Tom said just before Harry stepped in.

Harry smiled and said, "Potter," before stepping into the fire place and yelling Platform 9 and 3 quarters.

"Merlin's beard, that was Harry Potter, the boy who lived staying in my pub," whispered Tom before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry meanwhile was traveling through fire at great speeds and felt like he was about to throw up. After a very nauseating few minutes he started to slow down and was thrown out of the fire place and he fell on the ground in heap.

His head spinning and back hurting he stood up slowly and looked around. He was almost at the other end of the station near the tail of the train. Almost all the people were closer to the entrance from king cross.

"I'm never going to travel by floo again," he croaked, wincing as he walked towards the train. He made his way to the train and settled comfortably in an empty compartment and took a short nap.

Nobody disturbed him for the whole trip except for the trolley lady who made her usual rounds in the train for which he was thankful but kept wondering why Blaise hadn't shown up. They had exchanged letters after Harry moved to the pub and he had said he would meet Harry on the train.

Soon the train came to a stop and Harry got off and walked up to the stagecoaches eager to get back to the place he called home. Suddenly he heard someone calling him. Frowning he turned back and saw a tall Blaise Zabini walking towards him as cool as a cucumber.

"Hey Harry, long time no see," he said grinning.

"Yeah, yeah you too, Mr. Tall," he said. Blaise had certainly grown tall during the summer, he was now 5'7'' compared to Harry who was 5'4''.

"Hmmm, you seem to have grown shorter except for your hair that is. It looks like a bunch of grass pulled out and stuck to your head," he said smirking.

"Shut it, you moron," grumbled Harry, annoyed at being called short. "Let's get to the carriages before they're all full."

On reaching the carriages Harry stopped short. "What's the matter Harry?" Blaise asked him.

"Look in front of the carriages and tell me what are those things?" he said pointing towards the creatures between the carriage shafts. If he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats.

"Huh? What are you talking about? There's nothing in front of the carriages," said Blaise looking bewildered, "Are you sure you're eyes are fine?"

"Yeah I'm sure," snapped Harry. "And what do you mean you can't see them! Look they're harnessed to the carriages, they're like horses only black and with wings and ugly," he said staring at them.

"Mate, I don't see anything," Blaise said, "Hey Tracey, do you see anything pulling the carriages," he asked the Slytherin girl who was passing by.

"Huh, no. what are you talking about?" she asked confused.

"Nothing, nothing," Blaise said waving her off. "You see nothing," he said turning back to Harry. "Now let's go."

"But…"

"I see them too Potter," said a quiet voice behind him.

Both Harry and Blaise turned around to see Nott standing behind them. "But only those who have seen death can see them, and if you can see them that means you have seen someone die."

Harry stared at him, his mind flashing back to Quirrell who was turned into ashes just by touching him.

"Don't worry they're harmless," he said as Blaise pulled Harry into a carriage and they were followed by Nott and Daphne Greengrass.

A few minutes later they reached Hogwarts and went to their house table waiting for the sorting to begin.

McGonagall came into the hall and placed the hat and the stool in front of the head table and walked out of the hall to bring the new first years into the hall to be sorted.

As soon as the first years entered the entire hall feel silent. Harry leaned towards Blaise and muttered, "They look shit scared."

"So were we," Blaise whispered back.

"Speak for yourself, I wasn't scared at all," Harry said, smirking.

"Yeah right, I saw you go up to the hat you know," Blaise said rolling his eyes "You looked like you were about to pass out any second."

"Was not!" Harry whispered glaring at him.

"Yes you were."

"Was not, you jerk."

"Deny all you want Harry, but you know you were scared," Blaise said sniggering.

"I was not….."

"Shut up you two, the sorting is about to begin," Daphne whispered harshly.

"What! What happened to the sorting song?" Harry asked surprised the hat was skipping the song.

"You missed it you moron, you and Blaise were too busy arguing."

Harry looked at Blaise surprised who just shrugged and settled to see the first years get sorted.

"Amberline, Charles," McGonagall called.

"HUFFLEPUFF," screamed the hat.

"Creevy, Collin."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Lovegood, Luna."

"RAVENCLAW!"

The sorting went on and on and Slytherin had gained 2 girls and 2 boys up till now.

"Weasley, Ginevra."

"Weasley?" Harry said, his interest being perked up "Look Blaise, its the blushing Weasley! Which house do you think she'll be in?"

"Gryffindor all the way, she's a Weasley."

Five minutes later the sorting hat still hadn't decided.

"She's taking almost as long as you," Blaise muttered.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Suddenly the hat called out, "SLYTHERIN!" stunning the entire hall into silence.

Even McGonagall looked shocked though she removed the hat and gave the girl a gentle push towards the Slytherin table. Ginny walked towards the table in a daze, her eyes moistening. She took a seat away from everyone and started sobbing silently holding her face in her hands.

Harry looked at Blaise shocked, "A Weasley in Slytherin…. Has the hat lost his brain or something!"

Blaise looked equally shocked, "I donno mate, I don't know."

Harry look of shock turned to a gleeful one, "I can't wait to see the Gryffindor Weasley," he said rubbing his hands in anticipation "His sister in Slytherin!" he said snickering. Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw all the Weasley's sitting in their chairs with their mouths hanging open. He looked at Ron who was glaring at him with pure loathing as if it was his fault she was in Slytherin.

Harry smirked at him and began to eat the food which had just appeared after Dumbledore gave his usual before feast speech.

"This is going to be an interesting year," he murmured as he glanced at the Weasley girl who had stopped crying and was eating her food looking miserable.

"You going to help her Harry?" Blaise asked quietly.

"Help her with what?"

"Settling into Slytherin. You know how everybody's going to behave with her."

Harry snorted. "If she belongs in Slytherin, she shouldn't have any problem but let's see. She might need a little protection from the seniors," he said thoughtfully.

"I can't help but feel bad for her," murmured Blaise looking at the smallest Weasley sympathetically. It was going to be a hard year for her.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – Attacks and the Dueling Club**

"If he takes my photograph one more time, I'll chop his hands off and string him upside down in the great hall naked," Harry said fuming.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will."

"Or I'll feed him to the giant squid," he ranted.

"I told you its vegetarian."

"I shove that bloody camera up his nose."

"It's too big."

"I'll transfigure him into a camera, that'll make him happy."

"You'll be expelled."

Harry stopped and glared at his friend, "Whose side are you on! Mine or his?" he demanded.

"I look for peaceful solutions to such matters," he said, in a saint like voice.

Harry looked at him incredulously, "You, Blaise Zabini, of the ruthless but neutral Zabini family would look for peaceful solutions!"

"Hmm, I guess not, but he's your headache not mine."

"Some friend you are," Harry muttered, his eyes checking his surroundings constantly so that if he spotted Lockhart or Creevey he could run in the opposite direction.

"At least he's not as bad as Lockhart," Blaise said, sounding sympathetic.

"Please don't remind me!" groaned Harry. "Honestly I don't know which is worse, to have a kid taking my photograph every time he spots me or a fool of a teacher who's made up his mind to embarrass me every time he gets the chance."

"You know, I'm surprised you haven't cursed them yet. If I try to wake you a little before seven or do anything to piss you off you'd transfigure me into a pile of dung," said Blaise frowning.

"I'm surprised too, but if I did, Dumbledore would probably expel me like you said and I'd bring the wrath of the Gryffindor's down upon me and I don't fancy cursing the crap out of them and end up getting expelled as well."

"True, true," Blaise said seriously, as they reached the entrance to their common room.

"Mudblood," Harry said and the wall slid open. "Which moronic fool would put such a password?"

"It was Flint," Blaise grunted.

"Bloody troll faced bastard," Harry growled.

Blaise looked at him surprised, "I never seen you lose your temper like this before, usually you're all calm and composed," mocked Blaise.

"Why, you got a problem!" snarled Harry.

"Hey, hey, don't need to let your frustrations out on me," said Blaise defensively.

Harry glared at Blaise who ignored him and sat in one of the chairs. Harry sighed and collapsed on the couch.

"Sorry," Harry said looking apologetically at Blaise, "With Creevey, Lockhart and the rest of the Gryffindor's acting like freaking morons my temper has been on the edge."

"It's alright," Blaise said sighing, "If I were in your place I would have blown up long ago."

It had been more than a month since they had returned to Hogwarts and Harry's temper was running high almost every single day. With Colin Creevey running behind him every second of the day with his accursed camera, Weasley accusing him of turning his sister dark, Lockhart giving him tips on how to handle being a celebrity and with the amount of homework the teachers were giving them, anybody would be on the edge of loosing their temper.

"Hey Potter, Zabini," Malfoy drawled walking into the common room with his Crabbe and Goyle lumbering behind him.

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry grunted while Blaise just nodded "What's up?"

"Nothing just came to inform you guys that Quidditch tryouts are taking place next Sunday," he said sitting in one of the arm chairs while Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him.

"Really?" said Harry, his attention shifting towards Malfoy.

"Yeah," he drawled "I'm trying out for seeker, there's a spot open for chaser and seeker."

"Hmmm, I'd love to try out but I don't have a broom," Harry mused.

"So order one or use the school brooms."

"I'd rather buy my own broom than use those pathetic school brooms," Harry muttered "How much does a decent broom cost?" he asked turning towards Malfoy and Blaise.

"The new nimbus 2001 comes for around 200 to 250 galleons," Malfoy said "But if you could always go for a Cleansweep if you want a cheaper one."

"Naw I'd rather buy the best."

"Malfoy grinned at him, "Knew you had it in you Potter."

"Had what in me?"

"What it takes to be a true pureblood unlike those blood traitors."

"Thanks, I think," Harry said rolling his eyes, not in the mood to hear Draco rant about mudblood's and blood traitors again.

"I can't believe the Weasley girl is actually in Slytherin….. honestly, we should just kick her out of the common room and send her packing to the Gryffindor tower," Malfoy said sneering.

"She's in this house because she must have had the qualities of a Slytherin Malfoy," said Harry sighing. "And why do you care? Its not like she's doing any harm to you is she?"

"Well no but look at her!" he said looking disgusted, "All she does is cry all day and write in that silly diary of hers," he said pointing towards the corner of the common room and indeed there she was, looking miserable and writing in her diary.

"Well let her sort out her own matters, she just needs time to adjust. Does she have any friends?" Harry asked him.

"None, I heard from Pansy that Daphne and Tracey actually tried talking to her and few of the first years also tried but she just ignored them and went about her daily routine or whatever it is she does. I even saw her brothers yelling at her when she met them about a week back," he said looking rather pleased.

"Really! Her brothers yelled at her for being in Slytherin?" asked Harry, surprised. He hadn't expected the Weasley's to actually turn their backs on one of their own just because she was in a different house.

"Yeah, cool isn't it," Draco said happily.

"Yeah, really cool," Harry murmured looking at the youngest Weasley sympathetically. He knew what it was like to be belittled and ignored and insulted. After all that's how he had grown up.

"Well got to go," Draco said loudly, "Have to find some puffs to bully," he said and left the common room with his two body guards trailing behind him.

"What you thinking Harry?" Blaise asked Harry, who was staring at Ginny and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Nothing, nothing," he muttered distracted "Come on lets go for dinner," he said shortly and walked out of the common room.

It was almost midnight, the common room was empty and Harry was busy completing his potions and history assignments. He yawned as he put the finishing touches to his essays and re-read them once again to make sure there weren't any mistakes.

At half past twelve when he was finally ready to go to bed, he heard someone coming down the stairs. He stiffened and was surprised when he saw Ginny Weasley head towards the common room exit not even glancing at him.

"Ginevra," he called out, surprising himself at calling her by her first name.

She froze and slowly turned around not saying a word.

"Where do you think you're going at this hour?" Harry asked curiously.

She just stared at him unblinking, holding her diary close to her.

"Err… are you alright?" he asked her uncertainly, it was extremely creepy the way she was scrutinizing him.

"I'm fine," she said finally "Just felt like going out for a walk."

"Don't you think it's a little too late for that?" Harry stated dryly.

"No I don't and it's none of you business so go back to your books," she said coldly.

Harry was taken aback by her cold tone, "Alright, you go where ever it is you're going and I'll pretend I never saw you," he said slowly, extremely un-nerved by the girls behavior.

She nodded and left the common room without giving him a second glance.

"What the hell was that?" Harry wondered, as he went up to his room.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Seekers to my left and chasers to my right," shouted Marcus Flint, the current Slytherin team Quidditch captain.

Harry, Draco and loads of other students varying from third to seventh year has assembled to try out for the Quidditch team. Harry after much debate and argument with Blaise had agreed to try out for seeker as his body and size was perfect for a seeker and not to mention the spectacular dives he had pulled the first time he got on a broom.

"Alright, your job is simple enough. I'll be releasing the snitch and the one who gets it the fastest will get a chance to be on the team. I'll be releasing it three times and if anyone manages to catch it at least two times if not all three, will automatically be on the team," Flint barked.

He opened the Quidditch set and released the snitch. Two minutes later be blew his whistle and every one soared into the air.

Harry felt the wind blowing through his hair and he felt free, like he had no worries at all. He flew high above the ground and began searching for the snitch while most of the other students opted to fly around randomly. A few others like Harry had opted to fly high above the ground including Draco.

Fifteen minutes later there was still no sign of the snitch. Harry flew around slowly, his eyes darting back and forth trying to look for a tiny speck of gold.

"You think you're going to beat me Potter?" sneered Draco as he flew past Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I don't think - I know I'm going to get the position Malfoy."

Malfoy just sneered at him and shot off in the opposite direction.

Harry looked back at him and froze, he had just seen the snitch and it was hovering at the ground near the goal posts and nobody had spotted it yet.

Harry immediately pointed his Nimbus 2001 downwards and shot like a bullet towards the ground. The others having spotted the snitch too changed their direction and headed straight for the snitch.

"Come on," he urged his broom now almost vertically above the snitch. He could see Malfoy zooming towards the snitch from the other end of the ground from the corner of his eyes.

Seconds later he pulled out of his dive a few feet above the ground with the snitch firmly in his fist. The others hadn't stood a chance.

Grinning ear to ear, he landed next to Flint and handed him the snitch.

Flint just stared at him, his mouth open.

"Err… Captain Flint," Harry said uncertainly "I just caught the snitch."

Harry looked around and saw almost everybody was staring at him with unconcealed shock and awe.

"That… that was bloody unbelievable Potter!" Flint exclaimed "Since when have you been flying like that!"

"This was my second time on a broom, sir," he said.

"Second time…. SECOND TIME! And you pull one of the best dives I have ever seen!" he yelled looking delighted "Bloody hell…..." he said looking amazed. "That's it welcome to the team Potter, you're our new seeker."

Harry was stunned, "Wow, thanks… I mean wow," he said unable to speak coherently.

"That's not fair Flint," whined Malfoy, "It's supposed to be best out of three. I'm sure I'll be the one catching the snitch this time!"

"Shut it Malfoy," growled Flint, "If I want your opinion I'll ask for it."

"You want my dad's opinion," said Malfoy casually.

Flint paled drastically, "err… alright, catch the snitch again and you're on the team Potter," he said nervously. "Alright all seekers back in the air," he yelled after releasing the snitch.

But Harry caught the snitch again without much effort at all. It was like he was born to be a seeker.

"Well done Potter," Flint said grinning, "He won fair and square Malfoy, if you want I can give you a go for the chaser spot," he said. Malfoy just spat on the ground and stalked off to the place where the chaser try outs were to take place. "Well Potter, I'll be expecting you for practice tomorrow morning at six. Don't be late."

"Y-yes sir," Harry stammered and headed back to the common room in daze. He knew he was good, but he didn't know he was that good.

If he had turned around, he would have seen the jealous stares he was getting by the others who had tried out and the hate filled stare of Draco Malfoy.

After the shock of getting chosen as seeker sunk in, Harry happily strolled back to the common room to give Blaise the good news. Blaise wasn't interested in trying out. According to him, it was a waste of time and more than once involved a major accident.

Harry entered the common room, his eyes seeking out Blaise. He spotted him near the fire place lazily lying on the couch reading some stupid magazine.

Harry quietly sneaked up behind him and pushed him off the couch. He shrieked and fell to the ground with a thump.

"What the hell!" he yelled and jumped to his feet ready to pound the person who dropped him. All he saw was Harry sitting comfortably on his couch with his wand in one hand and broom in the other.

"You," he said narrowing his eyes, "What are you doing back here so early and why did you push me out of that lovely couch."

"You shriek like a little girl," Harry said trying hard not to burst out laughing.

"Go back to your tryouts you git," Blaise snapped.

"Well," Harry drawled "I would but what's the point if I'm already the new seeker of the Slytherin team."

All his anger at Harry vanished instantaneously "You got seeker! That's awesome!"

"I know," Harry replied grinning "I caught the snitch on both times without much difficulty. Flint gave me the position after the first try but Malfoy started whining so he grudgingly made us go one more time and I caught it again and since I caught it twice in succession, the position was automatically mine."

"Wow….. That's just awesome...! What about Malfoy? He must have been hopping mad."

"Don't know, don't care, but I'm sure he was," Harry replied shrugging "Anyway I'm going for a shower, I'll see you in the great hall."

-x-x-x-x-x-

For the next few weeks Harry had to split his time between Quidditch practice, homework, avoiding Lockhart and Creevey and experimenting with his ability in secret.

Before he knew it Halloween had arrived and just like last year he wanted to avoid the feast but Blaise somehow convinced him to come. So rather than waiting for the feast to get over, Harry ate a little food and left the great hall under his invisibility cloak not wanting to draw any attention. Everybody was so intent on eating anything they could grab that nobody, including the teachers noticed a student suddenly disappear in the shadows except for Blaise.

After exiting the great hall, Harry sighed in relief and wandered around aimlessly. "Honestly, why am I acting so depressed," he wondered. "I have the best wand in the world, I am the new Slytherin seeker, I have a great friend, then why the hell am I acting like a sissy," he said smacking himself on the head.

"I should be enjoying myself at the feast right now, not moping about parents whom I didn't even know," he said trying to get the image of his parents out of his head. "And where the hell am I?" he said looking around. It was the third floor.

He sighed and decided to go back to his common room. The feast would be over in another half hour or less anyway.

And then Harry heard it.

 _Rip…..kill…tear….._

Harry froze.

 _Hungry…..so hungry!_

"What the hell?" whispered Harry pressing his ear against the wall trying to find the source of the voice. It was coming from the floor below. Harry ran down the stairs but as luck had it, the stairs switched and connected to 1st floor.

He cursed and ran down determined to find another staircase which lead to the second floor.

 _I smell FOOD!_ He heard it say in a cold inhuman murderous voice.

"Shit, it's going to eat or kill someone," he thought and ran faster, abandoning all sense of caution.

He found the other stairs leading to the second floor and rushed up not noticing three startled Gryffindor's staring at him.

"Who was that?" said Hermione, staring up the stairs where Harry had vanished.

"Donno, reckon we should follow him?" Ron asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, let's go," Lillian said hesitantly and all three Gryffindor's followed him slowly not making a sound.

Meanwhile Harry had reached on top and was frozen in his spot staring at wall in front of him.

Written in huge letters on the wall between two flaming torches was:

 **THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED**

 **ENEMY'S OF THE HEIR BEWARE**

And hanging below on an empty torch bracket was a cat as stiff as a board, its small yellow eyes wide and staring ahead unblinking. There was water all over the floor coming out of the bathroom next to the wall.

Harry slowly and hesitantly took a step towards the cat and realized it was Mrs. Norris. He stared in shock at the cat not knowing what to do. But before he could pull himself together and think of something he heard someone stumble on the stairs. Panicking and not wanting to be found in such a position he quickly pulled out his invisibility cloak and covered himself and hurried down the passage way towards the great hall. He turned back and saw Ron, Hermione and Lillian come up the stairs just as he headed into a different corridor leading straight to the great hall.

He knew if those Gryffindor's were found there Weasley would blame him or any Slytherin in an instant and he was sure they had seen him. If he was in the great hall before the feast ended, he could always say that he had never left the feast. Now he knew what Flint had meant when he had explained the rules of Slytherin to them.

If he had been caught there, the whole blame would fall on him just because he was a Slytherin.

He slipped into the great hall, and removed his cloak in one corner of the hall and made his way carefully towards Blaise, who seemed to be forcing some cake down his throat. Nobody even noticed him.

Harry took his seat next to him and whispered, "Hey."

"Hey!" said Blaise with his mouth full. Harry grimaced a specks of cream fell on his hand. "Hadn't you gone back to the common room?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later. For now if anyone asks I never left the hall and was with you the entire time," he said and wiped his hand on his robes.

Blaise nodded and didn't ask anymore questions sensing the seriousness in Harry's voice.

"Hey Draco, pass the chocolate cake will you," Harry said in a false cheerful tone.

"Here you go Potter, and try the custard too, it's the best I've ever had!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Where did he go?" whispered Hermione.

"I donno, he must have gone upstairs or down the corridor or must have heard you and fled," whispered back Lillian.

"What's that," Ron said pointing towards the big words in the dim light.

"The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemy's of the heir beware," Lillian read "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What- what's that hanging underneath?" Ron said with a slight quiver in his voice.

They edged closer and Ron almost slipped in the puddle of water but Hermione caught him before he fell. They squinted through the darkness; all three realized at once what it was and leapt back with a splash.

For a few seconds they didn't move. Then Ron said, "Let's get out of here."

"Shouldn't we help her or…" began Lillian awkwardly.

"No, trust me, we don't want to be found here," Ron whispered harshly.

But it was too late. A rumble, somewhat like distant thunder, told them that the feast had just ended.

From either end of the corridor where they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well fed people. The next moment, students were crowding into the passage from both sides. Unlike Harry, the Gryffindor's didn't have an invisibility cloak to hide in and were frozen in their places.

The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat and the three Gryffindor second years standing there alone, in the middle of the grisly sight.

Harry's heart sank as they reached the passage where the cat hung. He sincerely hoped that those Gryffindor's had gotten away in time but it wasn't so. Suddenly Draco pushed past him and went in front and shouted through the quiet.

"Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, mudblood's!" his cold eyes alive, his usually pale face flushed, as he grinned at the hanging immobile cat.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" shouted Argus Filch, shoving his way through the crowd. He saw Mrs. Norris and his face fell, "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.

His wild eyes fell on Lillian, "You!" he howled "You killed her! You've killed my cat! You… you… I'll kill you! I'll…"

"Argus."

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene followed by a number of other teachers.

"She killed my cat Headmaster! She killed her!" he screamed.

"No, I didn't!" Lillian said her heart beating painfully against her chest.

"Yes, she did! I saw her kicking my cat just yesterday!" he howled glaring hatefully at Lillian who stared intently at her shoes determined not to meet the eyes of the headmaster.

"Silence," Dumbledore said sharply and moved past the distraught caretaker and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.

"Come with me Argus, You too, Mr. Weasley, Miss Austin and Miss Granger."

"We didn't do anything, we saw Potter running up here and when we came up we saw the cat," Ron said fearfully, under the impression that they were going to be expelled.

All the Slytherin's standing there burst out muttering angrily at the accusation against one of their own who according to them hadn't even left the feast until now.

Dumbledore stopped in his tracks and turned and faced Ron who flinched when his eyes locked with Dumbledore's. "And why would you accuse Mr. Potter of such a thing Mr. Weasley?"

Hermione stamped his foot hard before he could dig himself into a deeper hole, "Actually professor, we just saw someone running up the stairs but we didn't recognize the person and Ronald here just assumed it was Potter," she said hurriedly.

Dumbledore looked at her piercingly for a moment then nodded. "Right follow me now."

"Please use my office headmaster," Lockhart said eagerly "It's just upstairs."

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.

The crowd parted silently to let them pass. Lockhart looking excited and important hurried behind Dumbledore; so did McGonagall and Snape.

"Alright everybody back to their respective common rooms," professor Sprout said, her voice shaking a bit.

Slowly everybody started moving and headed to their common rooms muttering to each other under their breath.

"Can you believe that weasel," hissed Malfoy.

"Yeah, I know, accusing me for no reason at all," Harry said agreeing with Malfoy but his mind was elsewhere. First of someone had attacked the cat and the thing was it didn't sound human at all. How that cat had died was weird, he thought, thinking of all the spells he knew that could kill.

Before he knew it, they were in the common room and Blaise had dragged him up before anybody would question him as to why Weasley had accused him.

As soon as they were in their room, Blaise locked the door and turned sharply towards Harry, "Please tell me you didn't do that to the cat."

"What, NO!" Harry said indignantly "Of course I didn't."

"Ok good," Blaise said letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "So you going to tell me what happened?" he said sitting on his bed.

Harry took a deep breath, "Well you know I left the hall early under my invisibility cloak right?"

"Yeah"

"Well I went roaming around the school and suddenly I heard this voice."

"You heard a voice?"

"Yeah, it was talking about killing someone, so I tried to find the person since all the teachers were in the great hall and I wasn't thinking straight. So I followed the voice and it lead me to that place where the cat was. Then I heard someone coming up behind me so I threw the cloak over me and ran back to the great hall and luckily nobody realized I had gone and then you know the rest."

Blaise didn't say anything but was frowning and seemed to be deep in thought.

"What is it?" Harry asked him.

"The chamber of secrets, I heard about it somewhere."

"Of course you have, it's supposed to be a legendary secret chamber in the castle built by Slytherin himself," Harry said rolling his eyes.

Blaise looked startled, "What! How do you know that?"

"I read Blaise; it's mentioned in Hogwarts a history. I remember reading about it. Though there has never been proof of the chamber actually existing."

"So who are the enemies of the heir?" asked Blaise curiously, with a tinge of fear in his voice.

"Muggleborn's," Harry said shortly.

"Oh," he said sounding somewhat relieved.

There was a short moment of silence. Both lost in their own respective thoughts.

"You know Harry."

"What?"

"I've been meaning to ask you, where do you disappear during the nights at times?"

Harry looked shocked, "What are you talking about Blaise?" he said carefully.

"Don't act innocent with me Harry, sometimes I get up during the night and you're never there in your bed and once or twice I've seen you sneak out of the room too."

"Outside," he said evasively.

"Come on Harry! Can't you trust me?"

Harry looked at Blaise carefully, thinking whether he should trust him with this bit of information.

"Practicing somewhere," he said finally.

"Practicing what and where?"

"First you have to promise me you won't tell anybody, not your parents, not your girlfriend if you have any that is, not even a bug or an animal," Harry said firmly.

"I promise," he said solemnly.

Harry took a deep breath and pointed one finger at Blaise.

"You've been practicing to point fingers at people," he joked. Here he thought Harry was about to share some incredible secret with him and instead he points a finger at him.

Suddenly he was hit by a jet of water which hit with such force that he was pushed over and toppled over from the other side of his bed.

Coughing and shivering, he slowly got up and looked at Harry who was sitting on his bed grinning at him.

"W-w-what just h-ha-happened?"

Harry didn't reply and instead pointed his finger at him again. This time water slowly came out of his finger and slithered towards Blaise like a snake and crawled up his leg and warped itself around his neck and began to cover his face slowly.

Blaise was too shocked and scared to move or talk. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He stared at Harry fearfully wondering what the hell was going on.

Harry realizing his friend was getting freaked out immediately broke his connection with the water resulting in the water to fall down with a splash and spread on the floor. He then leveled his hand at the water on the floor. Immediately the water flew towards him and formed a big ball of swirling water on his palm. He raised his hand towards the window and the ball of water was thrown out of the window.

Harry turned to Blaise who still had a stupefied expression on his face.

"Blaise… Blaise… BLAISE!" Harry yelled, trying to get his attention.

Blaise was jerked out of his trance like state and he slowly looked Harry in the eye. "Harry mate, please tell me what just happened," he tried to say calmly, but his voice betrayed his fear and confusion.

"My dear Blaise, you just saw me control water and blast you with a jet of water which came out of my finger," Harry said smirking.

"Holy crap," whispered Blaise, his demeanor changing the instant Harry said that, as if something just clicked in his head.

"What?"

"You're a freakin' elemental," he said staring at Harry in awe.

"I'm a what?"

"An elemental, one with the power to control one of nature's elements."

"Care to repeat that!" Harry said incredulously.

"You. Are. A. Water. Elemental," he said slowly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"What's that supposed to mean!" Blaise cried "Harry, elementals haven't been seen for centuries. And to be one is extremely rare well forget rare, it's unheard of and here my bloody room mate is an elemental who can control water….! Do you have any idea what that means!"

Harry just raised an eyebrow, he had never heard of elementals.

"It means you are shit arse powerful and can do whatever you want with water!"

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. Harry thoughtfully and Blaise in awe.

"How do you know all this," Harry asked finally.

"It's common knowledge among purebloods. We are taught fencing, all about wizarding history and its customs and all sorts of things. It's a sort of tradition among ancient families like the Malfoy's, Nott's, Montague's and a few more," Blaise said shrugging.

Harry frowned, "I've read many books on wizarding history and I've never heard of an elemental."

"You won't find a book mentioning elementals so easily. In the entire wizarding history there must have been like 5 to 6 elementals till date and you can add yourself to the list."

Harry gaped at Blaise, "That's it! Just 5 to 6!"

"Yep, that's why it's amazing you're one. Nobody even knows the name of an elemental till date. They have been just spotted a few times using their powers and stories about them are passed down from father to son or daughter. They're like bed time stories nowadays."

"And just because I can shoot water from my fingers I'm a water elemental?"

"Obviously…., have you ever heard of any other wizard shooting water, fire, wind or earth from their fingers?" Blaise asked him sarcastically.

Harry's mind flashed back to Lillian walking through fire. "No, I guess not."

"There you have it. My room mate is a bloody water elemental," he said, his face breaking out into a grin.

"You know you can't tell anyone right?" said Harry narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah I know, don't worry about it, I won't be opening my mouth."

Harry sighed, "Well I'm going to bed now. It's been a hectic day. Finding out I'm an elemental, Mrs. Norris being killed, running away from two Harry Potter freaks. All in all a wonderful day," he said rolling his eyes. "Anyway good night."

"Good night to you too Mr. Elemental."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The day after Mrs. Norris had been attacked Dumbledore had announced at breakfast that the cat was very much alive and was just petrified. Harry was extremely surprised at this revelation. The cat had practically become stone. It wasn't breathing or functioning at all yet it was alive, he decided to research spells that could actually do such a thing. His wand was no help either. It hadn't spoken a word to him since last summer which annoyed Harry to no end.

For the next few days all students walked in groups in fear of being attacked, Slytherin Gryffindor relations were strained to breaking point and they were hexing each other on sight. Filch was handing out detentions like toilet paper. Weasley was spreading rumors about Harry being the attacker as usual and every time Harry walked in a corridor or entered the great hall, everybody would run away from him and avoid him at all costs. Harry was rather pleased by this, since nobody kept gaping and whispering when ever they saw him. If he had known all he had to do was scare them, he would have done it ages ago.

For once Harry was glad Weasley was spreading such rumors and hadn't met the Gryffindor trio since the attack so that he could thank them in person. Right now Harry had his broom swung over his shoulder and was on his way to the Quidditch pitch for his first ever Quidditch match with Malfoy, who had managed to get the chaser position by buying the rest of the team brand new nimbus 2001's. He had tried to get the seekers position, but Flint was adamant that Harry remain seeker and had offered Draco the chaser position.

When Harry and Draco entered the changing rooms the entire team was already there, ready to fly out and kick Gryffindor ass.

"Alright team, we have been practicing like crazy everyday for the past week. Today I don't want any mistakes or else you'll suffer. You know the strategy, knock as many players as possible out of the sky and the game is as good as ours," he growled. "Alright let's go and kick some Gryffindork arse!" he shouted.

The whole team roared enthusiastically and walked out of the changing room. They were greeted by loud cheers and boo's. The boo's and hisses coming from the rest of the school apart from the Slytherin's.

"And the Slytherin team walks out with two new additions to their team, Potter and Malfoy! One would think twice before picking such scrawny git's like them!" a loud voice was heard saying, a Gryffindor named Lee Jordon was the commentator for the match.

"And here comes the Gryffindor team! Wood, Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Weasley! The Gryffindor's have a new talent in their team who goes by the name of Roonnaaalllll Weasleyyyyyyyy!" and the Gryffindor's screamed wildly.

Harry looked at the Gryffindor team in surprise, he knew the Weasley twins were on the team and were pretty good but Ron! He had seen the git fly during flying practice and he was nothing but a pile of dung on a broom. "New talent they say," he said shaking his head in amusement.

Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than necessary.

"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three ... two ... one. . ."

With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Harry flew higher than any of them, squinting around for the Snitch.

Harry could vaguely hear the commentator sing praises about the Gryffindor team and their new seeker Ronald Weasley. He glanced towards Ron and saw him looking around nervously for the snitch.

Harry grinned and decided to play with the youngest male Weasley. He shot towards him and shoved him almost making him fall off his broom. Grinning he glanced back and sure enough, Weasley was red in the face and looked furious.

Suddenly Harry shouted, "Oh look, the snitch," and shot towards the ground but made sure Ron was close to him.

"And it looks like Potter's spotted the snitch and is shooting towards the ground with Weasley hot on his trail! Come on Ron!"

A few feet above the ground Harry pulled up suddenly and heard a loud crunch and grinned victoriously ignoring the outraged yells coming from the stands and Jordon screaming about slimy Slytherin's and cheaters.

Madam hooch blew her whistle causing play to stop.

"Nice one Potter," said Flint, flying up to him and thumping him on the back, "All you need to do is catch the snitch and the game is ours. They don't stand a chance against our brooms," he said and flew away to give quick instructions to the rest of the team. He spotted Malfoy looking at him resentfully but with a little respect too. Obviously he had acknowledged Harry as the better flyer even if he wouldn't say it out loud.

A few minutes later Ron got back on his broom shakily and took off into the air.

He resumed his job of looking for the snitch but didn't have any luck so far. Suddenly he heard a whistling noise behind him and spotted a bludger heading straight for his head.

He quickly performed a barrel roll and avoided it. But it immediately turned back sharply and headed straight for him. The next five minutes were spent dodging and performing weird tricks on his broom to avoid being pulverized, but then he saw the snitch.

It was hovering near the Gryffindor middle goal.

He heard the bludger coming behind him and dived with a sudden burst of speed zooming towards the snitch. He saw Weasley heading towards the snitch too but overtook his pathetic broom without any effort. Within seconds the snitch was in his hand and the Slytherin stands exploded into cheers.

Grinning from ear to ear he headed back to the ground and celebrated with the rest of his team mates. They had won 220 – 20 and Harry felt like bursting with happiness when all of a sudden he heard someone scream. Distracted he turned around only too feel something hard smash into his face and knock him to the ground.

Dazed he tried to see who hit him, but spotted a bludger heading towards him again. His eyes widened in horror and he tried to move away but it was too late. It slammed into his ribs hard and flew back into sky for another attack. Harry moaned in pain, he could feel something dripping from the side of his head and his chest felt like someone had just stabbed him multiple times.

He saw the bludger head for him again and the first thought that crossed his mind was to be the first player to be killed in their first game by a bludger. Just before it hit him again it exploded into a million pieces and he blacked out.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Hours later Harry woke up suddenly in the pitch blackness with in a dull throb in his chest and head. For a moment where was he and then memories of the Quidditch incident came crashing down to him.

He wondered if he had woken because of the pain but then with a thrill of horror, he felt someone press a wet sponge to his forehead.

"Get off!" he said loudly and then, "Dobby!"

The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at Harry through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose.

Harry Potter came back to school," he whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned Harry Potter. Ah sir, why didn't you heed Dobby? Why did Harry Potter come to school when Dobby warned him?"

Harry heaved himself up on his pillows and pushed Dobby's sponge away. "What're you doing here?" he said. "I told you I was coming back didn't I? So why are you here now? Why can't you warn the headmaster instead of me?"

Dobby mopped his bulging eyes ignoring him and said suddenly, "Harry Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make -"

"Your Bludger?" said Harry, his anger rising. "What'd you mean, your Bludger? You made that Bludger try and kill me?"

"Not kill you, sir, never kill you!" said Dobby, shocked. "Dobby wants to save Harry Potter's life! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here sir! Dobby only wanted Harry Potter hurt enough to be sent home!"

"Oh, is that all?" said Harry angrily. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you wanted me sent home in pieces?"

"Ah, if Harry Potter only knew!" Dobby groaned, tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If he knew what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, sir! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, sir," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase.

"But mostly, sir, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end, sit... And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more," Dobby froze, horrorstruck, then grabbed Harry's water jug from his bedside table and cracked it over his own head, toppling out of sight. A second later, he crawled back onto the bed, cross-eyed, muttering, "Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby. . ."

"So there is a Chamber of Secrets?" Harry whispered. "And did you say it's been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!" He seized the elf's bony wrist as Dobby's hand inched toward the water jug. "But I'm not Muggle-born - how can I be in danger from the Chamber?"

"Ah, sir, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby," stammered the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Harry Potter must not be here when they happen - go home, Harry Potter, go home. Harry Potter must not meddle in this, sir, 'tis too dangerous -"

"Who is it, Dobby?" Harry said, keeping a firm hold on Dobby's wrist to stop him from hitting himself with the water jug again. "Who's opened it? Who opened it last time?"

"Dobby can't, sir, Dobby can't, Dobby mustn't tell!" squealed the elf. "Go home, Harry Potter, go home!"

"NO!" Harry said sharply, his anger rising causing the room temperature to drop suddenly. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who's opening the chamber of secrets and so that we can end your attempts to save me! So tell me. Who. Is. It!"

"Please don't, sir!" moaned Dobby "You must not-"

Dobby froze, his bat like ears quivering. Harry heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the passageway outside.

"Dobby must go," breathed the elf, terrified and vanished with a whip like crack.

Next moment, Dumbledore was backing into the dormitory, wearing a long woolly dressing gown and a nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second later, carrying its feet. Together, they heaved it onto a bed.

"Get Madam Pomfrey," whispered Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall hurried past the end of Harry's bed out of sight. Harry lay quite still, pretending to be asleep. He heard urgent voices, and then Professor McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress. He heard a sharp intake of breath.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed.

"Another attack," said Dumbledore. "Minerva found him on the stairs."

"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," said Professor McGonagall.

"We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter."

Harry's stomach gave a horrible lurch. Desperately hoping it wasn't Blaise, he carefully raised himself a few inches so he could look at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay across its staring face. It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide and his hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his camera. Harry couldn't help but feel relieved that it wasn't Blaise, though he couldn't imagine why on earth, Creevey would want to visit him when he had been nothing but cold towards the boy.

"Petrified?" whispered Madam Pomfrey.

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "But I shudder to think ... If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate - who knows what might have -"

The three of them stared down at Colin. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and wrenched the camera out of Colin's rigid grip.

"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" said Professor McGonagall eagerly.

Dumbledore didn't answer. He opened the back of the camera.

"Good gracious!" said Madam Pomfrey.

A jet of steam had hissed out of the camera. Harry, two beds away, caught the acrid smell of burnt plastic.

"Melted," said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly. "All melted..."

"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently.

"It means," said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."

Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth. Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore.

"But, Albus ... surely ... who?"

"The question is not who," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin.

"The question is, how . . . ."

And from what Harry could see of Professor McGonagall's shadowy face, she didn't understand this any better than he did.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next few days passed by without any major incident. Teachers escorted students in the corridors and no one was allowed out of their dorms after dark. Almost the whole Slytherin house were rejoicing the fact that someone was attacking Muggleborns and Draco Malfoy in particular paraded the school like he owned it and never missed an opportunity to bully the first years and Muggleborns of his or less than his size.

One such incident took place in the defense against dark arts class when Draco began insulting Austin and Granger and the rest of the Gryffindor's flew into rage especially Weasley. It almost blew out into a full out duel between Austin, Weasley against Malfoy when Harry quickly froze the said Gryffindor's in their place and pulled Malfoy to the back of the class before everyone ended up in the hospital wing.

All this time Lockhart just kept pleading them, to stop fighting. He tried freezing them with his wand but ended up blasting himself back and nobody noticed except for Granger, she shrieked and went to help him, not before casting an accusing glare at Harry, as if it was his fault Lockhart was a moron.

Ever since that day the Gryffindor's had been trying to hex him for attacking one of their own but so far were unsuccessful.

Harry was walking with Blaise to the great hall when a crowd of students gathered around the notice board caught their attention.

"What's going on?" he asked Theodore Nott, who was standing there looking excited, which was really weird from Harry point of view, since he hardly spoke to him and he was always in a foul mood.

"They're starting a dueling club, first meetings tonight. I really wouldn't mind dueling lessons- they might come handy one of these days. Better go and inform Draco," he said and hurried away.

"What do you reckon, what to go?" Blaise asked Harry, looking somewhat amused.

"Sure, as long as Lockhart's not teaching," Harry said indifferently. "Anyway let's have an early dinner then."

At eight o' clock that evening, they hurried back to the great hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.

"Who do you thinks going to teach," Blaise asked Harry.

"I told you I don't care as long as its not….. Oh no!" he moaned.

Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black. Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called ' "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Did smiling too much make him crazy or was he just born insane," Harry said under his breath earning a stifled chuckle from Blaise.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them. "As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.

"One - two - three -"

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.

Malfoy and some of the other Slytherin's cheered. Granger and a few other students looked horrified. "Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers.

Harry shook his head in silent amusement at the incompetence of their defense against the dark arts teacher who could even block a simple disarming charm.

Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.

"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand - ah, thank you, Miss Brown - yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy - however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see . . ."

Snape was looking murderous. Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me -"

Harry automatically turned towards Blaise but Snape came towards them without any expression on his face as usual.

"Zabini with Finnigan, Malfoy can partner Weasley and Potter…," he said turning towards Harry.

Harry was surprised when he saw the amount of hate in professor Snape's eyes when he looked at Harry but it was gone in an instant.

"Potter can partner with Austin," he said smirking at the Gryffindor girl, who looked outraged. "Let's see what Potter can make out of the arrogant brat," he said sneering at Lillian.

Harry smirked at her knowing she was no match for him. In fact no one in the hall was probably a match for him except for Professor Snape who obviously had more experience in dueling.

She glared back at him with determination shinning in her eyes.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!"

Harry and Lillian barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents - only to disarm them - we don't want any accidents - one ... two ... three -"

Immediately Lillian shouted " _Rictumsempra."_

Harry barely moved and batted the silvery curse away as if it were merely a bug bothering him. She growled and fired two more hexes at him in rapid succession, but he just moved aside and let them pass by him.

"Come on Austin, if that's all you got, then I won't even need to use my hidden talents!" he said tutting.

" _Caecus!_ " she yelled, firing the blinding hex at him.

His eyes widened and he quickly ducked and muttered, " _Expelliarmus."_ Three seconds later her wand was in his hand and she was glaring angrily at him.

Grinning Harry strutted over to her and handed her wand back.

"Your aims horrible and you never moved when I fired the disarming hex at you, instead you looked scared and just waved your wand around unlike the last time you dueled me if you remember. If you were in an actual duel right now, you'd be dead within seconds," he said casually, twirling his wand in his hand.

"Well it's not my fault you got the most powerful….," she hissed, but was cut short when he covered her mouth.

"Don't talk about those things here! What did Ollivander tell you," he hissed back and removed his hand. She was about to retort when they heard Lockhart screaming.

"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge.

"Finite Incantatum!" he shouted.

A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was on the ground panting while Malfoy stood over him smirking, Blaise was pulling up Finnigan after whatever damage he had down to him. But Granger and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Harry saw Lillian yell and run and kick Bulstrode hard in the ribs making her let Hermione go and crumble to the floor in pain.

"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Macmillan ... Careful there, Miss Fawcett... Pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot. "I think Id better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you -"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face went pinker. "How about Austin and Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and Austin into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room. Both Harry and Lillian were glaring at the potions professor for pairing them together again. "Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Ms. Austin points his wand at you, you do this."

He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops -my wand is a little overexcited -"

Harry rolled his eyes at Lockhart and locked eyes with Lillian.

Harry and Lillian bowed to each other. "You're going to see a few of my new tricks Potter," she muttered, before stepping a few steps back.

Harry smirked… intrigued as to what new tricks she might have learnt that could give her such confidence.

"Three two one go!" Lockhart shouted.

" _Expelliarmus,"_ Harry shouted, intending to end the duel as quick as possible.

But she dodged and sent a stinging hex back at him. Lockhart was shouting at them to disarm not harm, but nobody paid any attention to him and paid more attention to the duel.

Harry blocked the hex and sent two stinging hexes back at her and a blinding hex in quick succession.

She dodged the first hex and the blinding hex but one of the stinging hexes caught her in her wand arm making her yelp in pain and drop her wand.

Harry smirked at the easy victory and bowed to the Slytherin's who were cheering. He turned back to Austin to congratulate her on her loss who was looking at him furiously, his grin faded when he saw something pulse in her eyes. Harry felt like everything had slowed down. He saw Lillian straightening herself and then pointing both her hands at him. And then massive jets of fire came hurtling towards him.

Harry's eyes widened in horror as the fire came hurtling towards him. He raised his hands instinctively and water came gushing out which countered the fire. Fire began to spread all over the hall and Harry was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the force of the fire. It was unfortunate but the fire was too strong and kept coming closer and closer to him no matter how much effort he put into the speed and intensity of the water.

He barely heard the screams and the roar of the fire as it continued to grow in size and burn anything it touched. He couldn't see Snape trying to put the flames out nor could he see Lockhart and the entire crowd panicking and running out of the hall. All he thought of was how to prevent getting fried at the moment.

"I need the water to be colder then maybe it will push back the fire," he thought desperately, turning his face away from the flames that had almost reached him. He was tiring fast and he knew he couldn't hold the flames back. If anybody had looked at the two more closely instead of hiding, they would have seen Lillian practically pouring fire out of her body and Harry barely holding back the flames which was hardly a feet away from him.

Just as he said the water needed to be colder, the water starting changing into a mixture of ice and water to Harry's amazement. He grunted and thrust his hands out and his water and ice mixture seemed to be pushing the fire back!

On the other side Lillian seemed to be in a trance. All see saw was an enemy, an enemy who needed to be destroyed. That was the only thought that dominated her mind at the moment. Her pupils were surrounded by a ring of fire and the fire wasn't just coming out from her hands but her entire arm had become fire.

She noticed the fire being pushed back slowly and snarled in anger putting even more force into her flames.

Harry on the other hand was concentrating on converting the water to ice and was successfully pushing the flames back. Slowly the fire was pushed back halfway and seconds later it reached Lillian who yelled in anger at the retreat of her flames. Harry cried out at the sudden increase in pressure of the fire and with a burst of will power he pushed harder and the fire suddenly went out and Lillian was blasted back by the force of the water.

She hit the floor hard and fell unconscious.

Harry was panting hard, completely exhausted after his battle and fell to his knees. He looked around surveying the damage. Half the hall was covered in soot and steam and there were ice shards and water puddles everywhere. The teachers table and the Gryffindor table were completely burnt to crisp.

Slowly the people who had rushed out and the few who had hidden safely came back into the hall hesitantly, as if expecting to be burnt any second. It was odd that even with that thought in their mind, they chose to come back and see what had happened.

"Everyone back to their common rooms now!" barked Snape as he rushed in, "Potter stay," he added and went over to check Lillian for injuries. "I said back to the common rooms now!" he snarled, and all of them quickly exited the great hall muttering to each other and coming up with explanations for what had just occurred in the great hall.

Harry saw Blaise going and gave him a smile, indicating he was not hurt at all. He was sure Blaise had figured out what had happened. And then he himself realized what had just happened with a shock. Austin was a bloody fire elemental and she had most likely lost control of her ability and would have destroyed everything in her path if it weren't for him.

He looked at her and saw that her robes were burnt in a few places but otherwise she was unhurt.

Snape got up and moved towards Harry. "Are you alright Potter?"

"Yes, sir."

"Come with me," he commanded and conjured a stretcher for Lillian and placed her in it. He took them to the hospital wing, had a quiet talk with madam Pomfrey and left.

Madam Pomfrey came over to him after checking Lillian, looking irritated. She cast several diagnostic spells over him and looked at him disapprovingly. "Not even a week you after you leave from here and you're back already."

Harry grinned, "Not my fault Lockhart's a useless teacher madam Pomfrey."

She glared at him and poked him with her wand, hard, checking for various injuries. "Well as far as I can see you're absolutely fine, just exhausted that's all."

"Good, then can I leave?"

"No you cannot, professor Snape has gone to bring the headmaster and he would like to talk to you both."

"She's knocked out," Harry pointed out. "How's he going to talk to both of us?"

"She's sleeping," Pomfrey snapped "And completely exhausted too, one simple ennervate and she'll be up and about causing trouble like she always does."

"She causes trouble?" Harry asked curiously "What kind of trouble?"

"Lie down and rest until the headmaster gets here Potter," she said and went to her office in a huff, muttering about crazy students and irresponsible teachers.

Harry sighed and kicked his shoes off and lay on the bed. He glanced at Lillian who was sleeping innocently in her bed, not even mildly aware of the amount of power she could wield.

"Fire verses Ice eh?" he said loudly and then started grinning. "Looks like I won."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ten minutes later, the headmaster entered the hospital wing with Snape and McGonagall in tow. All three headed to Harry's bed first.

"Good evening Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said kindly with the familiar twinkle present in his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, sir," he replied.

"Can you tell me what happened when you dueled Ms. Austin tonight?"

Harry sighed, "It started of fine sir, I cast the disarming charm which she dodged and sent a stinging hex towards me. Then I sent three hexes at her, two stinging and one blinding. One of the stinging hexes caught her on her wand hand and she dropped her wand. Assuming I won I bowed to the crowd but when I looked back at Austin, she looked like she was on fire and the next second all I could see was fire heading straight for me.

I panicked at him and cast an aguamenti charm which somewhat stopped the flames. Then after a few minutes, the water from my wand managed to push back the flames and knock Austin out," he finished.

"You're trying to tell me, Potter, that a simple aguamenti charm stopped a fire of that magnitude when the charms I cast did nothing to stop them?" Snape said sarcastically.

"Maybe," Harry said with a shrug, "I was scared and maybe there was a bit of accidental magic involved as well."

"Hmmm… perhaps," Dumbledore said looking thoughtful. "I think we should hear what happened to Ms. Austin that made her conjure such flames," he said, clearly not believing Harry's story but left it as it was for now.

"Surely you don't believe the boy, Albus," cried McGonagall "One of my students has been harmed!"

"Are you implying that I lied and you think Potter here has hurt Ms. Austin intentionally?" said Snape coldly.

McGonagall glared at Snape and Snape glared right back.

"Enough, Severus, Minerva, it was a dueling club and accidents do happen," Dumbledore said sharply, before a full blown argument broke out.

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. McGonagall was putting the blame on him, just because her student was hurt! He scowled angrily and realized that McGonagall wasn't as fair as he thought she was. If it came down to a fight between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, she'd support her own house even if they were at fault.

" _Rennervate_ ," Dumbledore said softly, pointing his wand at Lillian.

Her eyes flickered open and she slowly woke up, blinking rapidly. "Professor Dumbledore? What are you doing in the girl's dorm?"

Harry snorted earning a glare from McGonagall. He just smiled sweetly at her.

Dumbledore chuckled softly, "My child, you are in the hospital wing."

"Hospital wing? What am I doing here?" she said, confused.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Dumbledore said gently.

She scrunched her eyes, "Hmm - last thing I remember, oh! The dueling club!" she exclaimed. "I was dueling Potter and he beat me…." she said frowning. "I remember getting angry and losing to him again and then I started feeling really nice and then…. nothing. I think I passed out after that."

"Do you remember anything else Ms. Austin, anything at all?"

"Err… no sir. Why did something happen?" she asked nervously.

"After you dropped your wand, you shot fire out of your hands Lillian," Dumbledore said heavily.

"I shot fire out of my hands! What are you talking about professor?" she said incredulously.

"What the headmaster is saying Ms. Austin is that after you lost to Potter, you shot fire of such intensity at him, that it burnt almost half of the great hall," Snape said with a sneer. "All my efforts to put the fire out didn't work but Potter somehow managed to put them out, knocking you out in the process. Now would you be kind enough to explain how did you manage to shoot fire from your hands and we can then rest in peace."

"I-I don't know, professor," she said in a small voice, clearly stunned and confused. "I don't remember doing anything like that," she whispered.

"Severus, don't scare her like that!" snapped McGonagall. "It's alright child, we'll talk tomorrow. But now get some sleep," she said gently.

"Alright, I think its time for us to leave," Dumbledore said finally "Minerva, Severus, please accompany me to my office," he said and all three professors left.

After they left there was silence in the room. Lillian was trying to figure out what had happened in the great hall and Harry was hoping she wouldn't ask him which was highly unlikely.

"Potter," she began hesitantly.

"Damn," Harry muttered under his breath and pretended to be asleep.

"Potter," she tried again, this time a bit louder but Harry didn't bother replying.

Quietly Lillian slipped out of her bed and snuck over next to Harry and shook him hard, trying to wake him up though she didn't know he wasn't sleeping at all. "Harry!" she whispered in his ear.

Harry groaned in annoyance and got up irritably, glaring at Lillian. "What do you want freckles?" he said, trying to annoy her in hope that she would leave him alone.

But she didn't respond to his jibe. He looked at her closely and to his surprise, she looked desperate. Sighing, he said in a much calmer and softer tone, "What do you want?"

"After you hit me with that hex, I was angry, angry at myself for loosing to you and angry at you for acting like I was mere dirt in front of you," she began, looking lost and confused.

Harry wanted to say that's because you are, but held his tongue knowing that this was not the moment to do so.

"I was so angry that I just wanted to beat you and prove that you aren't as great as you think you are just because you can do magic without a wand and have the most powerful wand ever made. Then something erupted in me…. something desperately trying to break free and it… it somehow… I don't know what happened but it took control of me. I remember those flames coming out of my hands as if they were a part of me… I remember seeing the water come out of your hands and try to push back the fire. I remember wanting to destroy you the moment I saw the water come out of your hands. But somehow… somehow you managed to push the fire back and knock me out…. I…. I know you know what happened to me at that moment…. I know you do because you always know and somehow I know you can explain to me what happened to me in the great hall…. So please tell me, why did that happen to me and how were you able to stop it when even Snape couldn't do anything to stop it…. Please…."

Harry was silent. He heard everything she had just said and was thinking what he should tell her. She was obviously extremely confused and needed some answers desperately.

"Why didn't you tell all this to the headmaster? Why ask me, a kid who is the same age as you instead of a hundred and fifty year old man who is supposedly the most powerful wizard of all time?" he asked her curiously.

"Because…. because…. I don't know! All I know is I just wanted answers from someone whom I thought would give them to me and I thought of you first, not Dumbledore, not anyone else," she cried. "Will you please tell me what happened to me?"

Harry stared at her intently. He couldn't help but wonder why on earth she would choose to ask a guy like him instead of the famous headmaster to question…, even if he did have the answers to her questions.

"You remember you telling me that you can touch fire and not get burnt," he said finally.

"Yeah?"

"If you can touch fire why can't you conjure fire from your hands?"

"I don't understand?" she said confused.

Harry sighed, "Gryffindork's," he muttered. "You are a fire elemental Freckles, - that means you have the power to throw fire, control fire, touch fire and bend it to your will. In simple terms, you are fire."

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Oh"


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – A Shocking Revelation**

 **Headmaster's Office**

"Surely you don't believe Potter do you, Albus?"

"Why wouldn't you believe him Minerva?" said Snape with his ever present sneer.

McGonagall didn't say anything but glared at the potions master.

"Ah, I think I know the reason," he said, smirking "It's because he's a Slytherin and Slytherin's are always up to no good unlike your goody two shoes Gryffindor's. Isn't that right Minerva?

Well news flash Minerva, your Gryffindor's aren't as innocent as you think they are, your three favorite Gryffindor's have seen fit to disrupt my potions class by throwing fireworks in others students cauldrons and steal from my personal potions lab," he spat.

McGonagall's eyes widened, "You're lying," she stated flatly.

"Am I now?" Snape said dangerously. "You should be glad they aren't expelled. If I had solid proof they would be expelled before you could cry foul."

"You read their minds?" she said accusingly.

"Perhaps, but right now we are talking about your accusations against my student," he said dryly.

McGonagall looked extremely flustered, "Alright fine," she snapped "I was wrong to blame the boy and I'm sorry."

Snape sneered victoriously, if that were possible, "Apology…. not accepted Minerva."

"Would it kill you to act nice for once!"

"You're just sore that Potter is in my house not yours," he said smirking "Not that I'm glad he's in my house…"

McGonagall just ignored him and turned back to the headmaster who was looking fairly amused at their argument. "What do you think, Albus?"

"I think Mr. Potter was not being fully truthful in his answers," he said carefully. "Maybe viewing the memory will be helpful?" he said, looking at Snape.

"I wish, headmaster, but all I could see was fire roaring everywhere and I couldn't spot both Potter and Austin. I tried to put out the flames but on contact with my suppressor charm and aguamenti charm, the flame intensity increased and it wouldn't stop at all. So I find it hard to believe that Potter managed to put out the fire with a simple _aguamenti_ charm, which is taught at OWL level and added to that fact he is only a second year."

"He did suggest accidental magic," Dumbledore said frowning deeply.

Snape snorted, "Accidental magic at that level is not accidental Albus. Surely you know that!"

"I think we should view the memory. I'm sure we will get some answers from that."

"Why didn't you just read the boys mind?" Snape asked curiously, he knew Dumbledore would do it if necessary.

"Severus! That's a violation of his privacy," McGonagall exclaimed.

"I tried, but he seems to have occlumency shields," Dumbledore said, ignoring McGonagall's interruption.

"Impossible! Occlumency shields at his age are not possible. I don't think he even knows what occlumency is!" Snape said disbelievingly.

"Maybe it is a side effect of his curse scar," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, more to himself than the other two professors, "Surviving an Avada Kedavra without any side effects is too good to be true. Maybe Lord Voldemort transferred some of his powers to young Harry that night. And it is known he was the best Legilimens known until he lost his powers."

"If what you're saying is true, then what other powers he could have given Potter?"

"I don't know. But we will find out in time. What do you think Minerva?" Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling.

"Keep an eye on Potter. If what you said is true then you can also include a dark lord personality. For all you know he might have been the one to open the chamber of secrets," she said carefully, not wanting to sound like she was accusing the boy again.

"You could be right, but as far as I know, the boy is not influenced by Voldemort in anyway at all except for his talent in occlumency," he said.

"Let us view the memory now. I have several assignments to check and Merlin only knows what those dunderheads would have written this time." Snape said impatiently.

"Yes, of course Severus," said Dumbledore and summoned his pensive.

"Really Severus, you can't call your students dunderheads," said McGonagall disapprovingly.

Ignoring her comment Snape placed his wand to his temple and withdrew a silvery strand of smoke which he deposited in the pensive.

"Let us go then," Dumbledore said, pushing the pensive towards Snape and McGonagall who touched the contents of the pensive and vanished from sight. As soon as they went in, Dumbledore locked his office and went inside himself.

" _Three two one go!"_

" _Expelliarmus"_

"Mr. Potter is rather quick is he not?" Dumbledore commented as they watched the duel progress.

They saw the stinging hex hit Lillian's hand who hissed and dropped her wand.

"Watch the girl carefully now, this is where it begun," said Snape.

She slowly stood up glaring at Harry. Slowly they noticed an orange colored ring began to form around her pupils and it started to glow, becoming brighter by the second. McGonagall gasped. Just as Harry turned towards her, she raised her hands and the fire came rushing out and headed towards Harry.

McGonagall pulled her wand ready to put out the fire before it could reach Harry but then realized it was a memory. They saw Snape desperately trying to put the fire out, but to no avail. The fire just grew more powerful and he was forced to take cover. They saw Lockhart screaming and running out of the hall, pushing the students aside.

"Look at Harry," Dumbledore said suddenly.

"You can't see him, Albus," said McGonagall with a quiver in her voice.

"You can't see him but you can see his hands," Snape said quietly.

She looked carefully and gasped again. Harry hands were barely visible and they could see water gushing out with great intensity, trying to push back the flames. They couldn't see the rest of his body as the flames were flying all around him. The Snape in the memory was carefully covered near the great hall entrance as he summoned every student left in the hall and threw them out.

"You can't see the girl anymore too, she's completely covered in flames," Dumbledore said.

"Look at Potter, Albus, the water's changing to ice," Snape pointed out.

He was right. The water coming out of Harry's hands was slowly changing to ice and was now pushing the fire back.

"And he does not have his wand in his hand," murmured Snape.

"Indeed," muttered Dumbledore.

Suddenly the water and ice mixture grew large covering Harry and Lillian from sight and it overpowered the flames easily.

"My god," whispered McGonagall "Look at the front, it looks like a dragons face!"

She was right, just has the water ice mixture grew in size and pushed the fire back, the front of Harry's water ice mixture changed to a dragons face and was roaring as it knocked Lillian back and disintegrated into water.

All three professors were quiet as they saw Snape running to Harry, with a look of concern and then to Lillian.

"That's the end of the action headmaster."

Dumbledore nodded and held McGonagall and Snape's hand and pulled them out of the pensive.

Once they were out and seated Dumbledore looked at Snape without any twinkle in his eyes, "What do you think?"

"She's an elemental," he said simply.

McGonagall's eyes bulged, "An elemental!"

"Yes, Minerva, an elemental, did you not see her eyes? Only an elemental's eyes look like that when they use their powers. She is clearly a fire elemental and had just lost control of her abilities," Snape said, without the usual sneer for once.

"And Potter?" Dumbledore said carefully.

"Water elemental," he said, "And if I'm not wrong, he didn't want us to find out. That's the reason he said he cast an aguamenti charm. I knew it was beyond his level to cast that kind of a charm with that much power."

"So he can't conjure water with a wand but he can control and summon it without his wand. Not much of a difference is there Severus?" said Dumbledore, the twinkle back in his eye "Though I must say he has incredible control over his ability... I wonder what else he is hiding from us?" he said to himself.

"Have you two gone mad," said McGonagall, looking irritated "We have two elementals in our school. ELEMENTALS for goodness sake…. and one can't even control her power! Aren't you worried!"

Dumbledore just smiled. "Don't worry Minerva," he said gently "Somehow I get the feeling, young Mr. Potter is going to help her control it and besides, one cannot teach an elemental to use their powers, they have to discover it on their own, the best person to help her would be another elemental. I could talk to them about it but it will not help. I for one have never encountered an elemental before."

"But Albus, what about the attacks, a student has been petrified and if these two start meeting secretly they could be attacked as well."

Dumbledore's cheerful demeanor vanished and he became serious, "You are right as usual Minerva, I must ask you both to warn your students. Don't mention the fact that we know what they are but tell them discreetly that they can meet once the culprit has been found."

Both the head of houses nodded. McGonagall looked pleased and Severus had his sneer back.

"That will be all. You can talk to them tomorrow morning before madam Pomfrey discharges them."

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hospital wing**

"You are a fire elemental Freckles, - that means you have the power to throw fire, control fire, touch fire and bend it to your will. In simple terms, you are fire."

.

.

.

"Oh"

Lillian just stared at Harry, unable to believe his words. She knew what he said was true. She always had an unusual feeling every time she went close to fire. She always felt like it was calling out to her, giving her comfort and giving her warmth. Her being a fire elemental made complete sense and yet she couldn't bring herself to accept it. It was too bizarre, too weird.

"Will you stop staring at me so closely," Harry snapped. Her face was just a few inches away from his and she hadn't even realized it. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear him.

Harry on the other hand was feeling extremely uncomfortable by the closeness between them. When she didn't respond to him he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back.

She fell off his bed with a yelp and jumped back up, with fury in her eyes.

"Why the hell did you push me?" she demanded.

"So you're back to normal huh," Harry stated dryly.

"Huh…. What?" she said, the anger vanishing as fast as it came.

"I said, you're back to your usual short tempered, snappish, dumb self, Freckles," he said smirking.

"What the hell are you talking about scarhead," she snapped.

"Your face was an inch away from mine a minute back, any closer and I would have died. Cause of death being smell of your mouth. Now, I know you like to have close contact with me like you have proven in the past, but you really need to control yourself Freckles," he said trying to look serious, if it weren't for the twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Lillian blushed, "err… yeah… sorry about that…. And wait….wait, wait… what the hell you mean my mouth SMELLS!"

Harry winced, "Any louder and madam Pomfrey will come running out with a whip in her hand."

"Whatever you jerk, I can't believe I'm actually talking to you," she hissed and went back to her bed and sat there folding her hands, staring at the ceiling angrily.

"I can't believe it too! Now why don't you be a good little girl and go to sleep just like madam Pomfrey instructed."

"I'm not a little girl!"

"Whatever you say Freckles," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

She tried to ignore him but another question popped up in her mind and she turned towards him.

"Is there something you want?" he asked, slightly unnerved by the way she was watching him.

"Yes"

"Care to elaborate."

"How did you stop me? As far as I know, even Snape couldn't do anything to stop me and Lockhart just ran out. So how come you were able to put the fire out?"

"You don't need to know that. You should be thankful I did," he said indifferently.

"Unfortunately I am, but I want to know how could you control the water the way you did?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry said trying his best to look confused.

"Oh stop that!" she said irritably.

"Stop what?"

"That!"

"What!"

"That….. That!"

Harry growled irritably, "You are making absolutely no sense whatsoever. Now will you tell me in proper terms what in heavens name should I stop!"

"Oh, forget it. Clearly you are dumb, so I won't bother explaining," she said huffing and turned around showing her back to him.

"What… the hell!" Harry said angrily, completely baffled by her behavior. Sighing irritably he pointed a finger at her and fired a jet of water at her making her shriek and fall off the other side of the bed.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT POTTER!" she yelled, completely drenched, glaring daggers at Harry.

Harry quickly cast a switching charm on his clothes to the change them to the ones the matron had put out and quickly slid under the bed sheet. He knew madam Pomfrey would have heard her yelling and would be out any second.

"Why in Merlin's name are you yelling Ms. Austin!" came the shrill voice of madam Pomfrey.

"Right on time," Harry thought, under the covers, sniggering uncontrollably.

"Madam Pomfrey, Potter drenched me in water," she said waving her finger at the sleeping figure of Harry.

"Don't be ridiculous, the boy is sleeping and _you_ missy, are making a racket!"

"But, ma'am," she protested.

"Enough, that boy has always kept his nose clean and I cannot believe he would do something like this! Obviously you just wanted to put him in trouble!"

"But…."

"No arguments, now change and go to bed immediately," she said and cast a drying spell on her. "If I hear another noise, you'll be going straight to the headmaster! Now change!"

Harry could hear Lillian grumbling at the matron and muttering insults at him. He grinned in delight. Things couldn't have gone better. After a minute or two he heard madam Pomfrey going back to her office and Lillian sliding into her bed.

A minute later he was debating whether to peek out and check on Lillian. But before he could do anything he felt something smash his stomach and knock the wind out of him.

Groaning in pain, he stumbled out of his bed holding his stomach. He looked up and saw Lillian standing on the other side, a smug expression on her face.

"You're going to pay for that," he choked out, plotting her death in his head.

"Well you deserve it," she snapped.

"You're the one who yelled not me," he said, slowly straightening up, the pain ebbing away. "Must you always settle your arguments physically?"

"It's the fastest way," she said shrugging.

"Hit me again and I'll show you faster ways of dealing with morons," he muttered under his breath.

"Say something Potter?" she said, her voice low and threatening.

"What do you want now?" he said sighing.

"Answers"

"Answers to what?"

"Are you an elemental too?"

"Why do you ask?" he said in a neutral voice.

"Because….! Because I saw you okay! I saw all that water just pouring out of your hands just like the fire out of mine. No matter what you think, I'm not dumb. If one can just make fire come out of their hands and be called a fire elemental then you can call yourself a water elemental," she exclaimed.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Fine you're not dumb, but I think I'm entitled to keep my secrets to myself and not share them with you or do I have to share them with you?" he said, looking pointedly at her.

"No," she muttered, "you're right. If you don't want to tell then don't," she said looking defeated.

Harry groaned, honestly this girl had a way of making him answer all her questions without much of an effort. She didn't even have to try! If it were someone else, he would have flat out refused or cursed them by now, even Blaise. "But you're right. I am a water elemental with the ability to change water into ice as I found out today," he said "Now is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Can you control it?" she asked curiously.

"Somewhat," he replied vaguely.

"Can you teach me? I don't want to loose my temper and burn everything in sight."

Harry stared at her incredulously, unable to believe that she actually wanted him to teach her. "I – I don't know," he said, at a loss of words for once.

"Why?"

"It was different for me. You said you had a few incidents when you were young and now you can walk threw fire without harming yourself but you can't conjure fire. Water is different, you use it everyday and I didn't realize I was an elemental until last summer when water kept jumping and clinging to me randomly."

He took a deep breath, "you can try meditating and concentrate on a ball of fire on your hand. It might take sometime to actually manage it but don't give up, though with a temper like yours I doubt you'll be able to do it," he said, not knowing why he had to try and insult her every chance he got.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said sarcastically. "But still couldn't I do it with you around? I mean you can obviously overpower me if I loose control and I don't want that to happen with my friends around."

"Hmmm, maybe I can help you if I want to but you cannot tell your friends, god forbids, your pal Weasley will come up with start spreading some other rumor about me. Harry Potter seduces witches, beware!"

Lillian laughed, "Wow, who knew you were capable of cracking jokes."

"I wasn't joking," he said dryly.

"Yeah, well fine I won't tell them. So will you help me?"

"I'll think about it. I think you should be more worried about your safety right now, with the apparent heir of Slytherin running around trying to kill Muggleborns, it won't be safe for you to roam around the castle. Maybe once he or she is caught I might help you."

Was it his imagination or did she look a little flustered and nervous when he mentioned the heir of Slytherin. "Why you looking so nervous all of a sudden," he asked her.

"What?" she squeaked, "Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about something," she said quickly, a little too quickly.

"Ok she's definitely hiding something", he thought.

"I think I'll get some sleep, we have class tomorrow and we'll have to deal with all the questions," Harry said glumly, thinking about Creevey and Lockhart.

"Yeah, alright then, good night," she said.

"And Freckles"

"What!" she snapped at the use of her most hated nickname.

"You better not tell anyone about me."

"Don't worry, I won't."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next day, Harry was cornered by his head of house and told that he was not allowed to leave the common room unless they had class in fear of being attacked. Somehow, he felt there was an underlying meaning to that warning.

At lunch, much to Harry's relief Dumbledore satisfied everybody's curiosity by announcing that the incident between Harry and Lillian was just a small case of accidental magic and nothing more.

Ron as usual had spread rumors that Harry had done something to Lillian during their duel which earned him a punch straight to the jaw in middle of the great hall by Lillian. That was one of the best moments of Harry's life in Hogwarts. Weasley number six was so confused and stunned he just stood there unmoving with his mouth wide open. His twin brothers had actually thrown a few peanuts and pieces of paper in it and he didn't even realize.

Christmas was approaching and Harry felt somewhat great. He always felt brilliant during the winter and now he knew why. It was the season which matched his element. He briefly wondered how Lillian must be feeling during the winters but the thought vanished from his head instantly when he felt a pillow smash against his head.

He turned around ready to blast Blaise with his super jet, as Blaise called it, which was rather lame. But it turned out to be Malfoy.

"Malfoy! You better have a good reason….." but he couldn't complete his sentence when he felt another whack from behind him which turned out to be Blaise. "That's it you two are going down," he swore.

Both Malfoy and Blaise grinned and yelled at the same time, "ATTACK!" and then ensued the biggest pillow fight in the history of the Slytherin second years. They ran around their dorms and entered Malfoy's room which brought Nott into the picture too, who sided with Harry.

Smacking and rolling on the ground they didn't realize when they entered the common room. Suddenly Harry smacked Blaise across his face. Blaise fell back and they all heard a loud shriek and curse.

It was Daphne Greengrass. Blaise jumped up completely red and embarrassed, while all the other boys were laughing their heads off. Crabbe and Goyle just looked confused.

"Awww, Blaise and Daphne," Draco said batting his eyelashes.

"You all better run, or you're going to loose something precious," she threatened pulling out her wand.

All of them laughed and for the next five minutes kept jumping around the common room, dodging hexes from Daphne and Tracey, who had joined in just for the sake of it.

Harry and Nott managed to sneak up behind them and snatch their wands out of their hands.

"Well now... Guess who has to run," drawled Nott, twirling Daphne's wand in his hands while Harry just grinned.

Both girls shrieked and ran to their dorms but found the way blocked by Malfoy and Blaise who were grinning widely with pillows in their hands, "Pay back time," said Blaise.

"PANSY, MILLICENT, BRING WANDS AND PILLOWS AND GET DOWN HERE NOW!" bellowed Tracey.

"Not Bulstrode!" cried Draco, horrified "She's enough for all of us!"

"That's why we called her," said Tracey, smirking evilly.

Soon the entire Slytherin second year batch was involved in a heavy battle with pillows and mild hexes, which was soon broken up by professor Snape, who looked furious at the Gryffindor type behavior. Who would have the thought that the Slytherin's were actually capable of having fun!

All of them giggling and laughing scrambled up to their rooms to avoid the wrath of Severus Snape. Harry couldn't think of any other time where he had so much fun. Sure he usually didn't behave like that, but hey, he was allowed to break loose once in a while wasn't he. But he was most surprised that Draco and Blaise and reached some kind of truce and were seen talking quite peacefully without insulting each other for once.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Elsewhere three Gryffindor's were bidding their time in a girl's bathroom, more specifically moaning Myrtle's bathroom and were brewing a NEWT level potion.

"I'm telling you Ron, Potter isn't the one attacking Muggleborns," said Lillian exasperatedly for the 100th time that day.

"Oh, come on Mary, he hates you, he hates his Muggle relatives, it has to be him or Malfoy. But Potter fits even better."

"I hate to say it but Ron makes sense," said Hermione.

"Oh, come on Hermione! Not you too!"

"Think about it logically, we saw a black haired guy who looked a lot like Potter running up the stairs and then we see a petrified cat. Then we all know that Colin was annoying the hell out of him and what next…. Colin's attacked! He survived an attack from the dark lord when he was a baby and nobody knows how. And you said it yourself, he's a really powerful wizard and we shouldn't annoy him and you won't give any reason as to why!"

Lillian growled, "I said that because he told me to warn you Ronald. You've been spreading all these fake rumors about him… anyone's bound to get pissed… and I know he's powerful because I was there when he bought his wand and the reaction was tremendous. Usually when we get our wands we feel warmth in our hands or a wind blowing right?"

Hermione and Ron nodded.

"Well…. when he got his it was like a hurricane had just passed by."

Hermione's eyes widened considerably while Ron just looked sour.

"So why do you think he's not capable of attacking Muggleborns?" demanded Ron.

"Because he isn't alright! I know him better than you think," she snapped "Now let's get on with the potion and once we get the answers we want you'll see I'm right," she said stubbornly.

"And since when did you start talking to him? Sneaking around with him in the dead of the night are you?" sneered Ron.

Lillian growled and drew her fist back to deliver a punch but Hermione stopped her.

"Look, we have to stop arguing with each other. We have to find out who the heir is and not fight amongst ourselves. And frankly I don't want to be killed," Hermione said calmly, stirring the potion.

"Fine," muttered Lillian, glaring at the red head "Add an anticlockwise stir Hermione, the potion needs to be a little brighter," she said suddenly, glancing towards the potion.

It was Hermione's turn to glare at Lillian. She simply hated the fact that Lillian had a natural flair for potions and was better at it than her. While she would do everything by the book, Lillian enjoyed experimenting with the ingredients and modify her potion to make it better. She wouldn't help but feel jealous of her abilities in potions. If there were another teacher other than Snape, he or she would be singing praises about her talent in potions.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Christmas holidays arrived and Harry was left alone again, except this time Draco was staying back because his father had some work and unfortunately even the Weasley's, Granger and Austin were staying behind.

Harry spent most of his time researching new spells and curses in the library and also kept a look out for dark curses. His wand helped him in that department in a freaky sort of way. Every time he would come across it would whisper 'evil', scaring the living daylights out of Harry.

He had almost been thrown out of the library once for yelling out loud when his wand had whispered to him. Even after all this time he wasn't quite used to its random whisperingness, as he called it. He had compiled a book on dark curses and the list was growing everyday. He couldn't believe what half the curses could do, there were spells that could replace your internal organs with acid, spells which could make your skin just melt away, some which would sever the arteries in your heart resulting in a very slow and painful death, a curse with could liquefy your brain and the list just grew longer and longer. When Harry found a book on the unforgivable curses, the whispering had reached a new level of loudness, he'd resisted the urge to take his wand and bang it over his head.

He had gained unlimited access to the entire restricted section and was quite pleased about it. Lockhart did have his uses even if he was a complete moron.

It was Christmas Eve and Harry had just made Lillian's Christmas present and had just given it to Hedwig who would deliver it at midnight. Chuckling to himself he made his way across the grounds back to the castle. If a teacher saw him now they would certainly give him an hour long lecture on his sense of clothing. He was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans in such cold weather. He had thought about wearing winter clothing but decided against it as it made him feel extremely stuffy and uncomfortable.

Suddenly he heard a gale of laughter and a couple of bangs. At first he thought of just ignoring it but then he heard the sound of someone crying. Slowly walking around the corner, he spotted that disgusted him. Three red heads with their wands out were around a red haired girl.

His temper rising he made his way slowly towards the Weasley boys.

"Really Ginny, what makes you think mom will want a Slytherin in her house?" spat Ron.

"Mum won't, mum won't leave me because I'm a Slytherin," she whispered tears dripping down her cheeks.

"Ah, come on Gin-Gin, maybe if you let us experiment on you we could put in a couple of good words about you and mum might just accept the fact you're in Slytherin," said one of the twins grinning widely.

"No, go away," she said drawing her knees to her chin.

"How could you Ginny!" cried Ron suddenly. "How could you let the hat place you in that pathetic house," he said and pointed his wand at her and sending a yellow curse at her leg, which he recognized as the stinging hex.

"Hey, Ron, we agreed on no physical harm," George said hastily.

"Yeah, chill Ronnikeins," said Fred grinning, not even giving a second thought to how Ginny must be feeling.

"Really sad, when one's own family members decide to emotionally traumatize their own little sister for just being in a different house," said Harry with barely suppressed fury. Watching them had brought back memories of Harry hunting to the forefront of his mind.

All three Weasley's spun around. "Potter," Ron spat.

"Weasley's," Harry replied coolly, clutching his wand tightly. "I wonder if Granger and Austin know how you're treating your sister Weasley number six."

Ron turned red with fury. "It's three on one Potter," Fred said confidently. "You better get out of here or you're going to pay."

Harry laughed and walked towards Ginny, who was watching them with wide puffy red eyes.

"Hey, Ginny," he said gently, "Why don't you go back to the common room and I'll deal with your brothers alright?"

She nodded, her brown eyes filled with fright and gratitude and Harry helped her to her feet, "And don't listen to your brothers, no matter what you do, good or evil, a mother will never stop loving her children."

She nodded and whispered, "Thank you," before running back to the castle.

"What would you know about parents Potter," sneered Ron. "You don't have any," he said laughing nastily.

Harry looked the Weasley boys coldly. Ron was looking smug and the twins were putting up looks of fake bravado.

Harry raised his wand, "You three are pathetic. Gryffindor's are supposed to be brave, honorable, helpful, and all that stupid shit. What you have done today is disgraceful. You insult your own sister, curse her and make her believe her mother hates her," he said in anger.

"You don't know how much she cries in the common room do you? You're all so narrow minded that you can't see a sister who is suffering, but instead all you see is a sister who has apparently betrayed you by being sorted into a house you hate, when she had no control over it."

Harry took a deep breath, "Pathetic," he said and before they knew it he had fired three stinging hexes at their thigh.

Ron had a look of utter loathing on his face and rushed towards Harry fists raised. One of the twins sent a disarming hex at him while the other sent a jelly legs hex.

Harry easily blocked the hexes and sent Ron flying back with a hurling hex. He then sent a flurry of stinging hexes at the boys causing them to yelp in pain each time it hit them. Five minutes later, all three Weasley's were panting and wincing every time they moved with their wands lying abandoned beside them.

Harry summoned their wands to him. "So effective against weaklings, the stinging hex is it not?" he said coldly. His hands were shaking with anger at them and he wanted nothing more than to cause them more pain but he restrained himself. "You three are hopeless at a duel. And here you thought you could beat me just because it's three on one."

He sent a punching hex at each of their faces and gut. "I should tell you, I could do ten times worse if I wanted to," he said grimly and was very satisfied to see the fear in their eyes.

"Now, you shall leave your sister alone. If you want you can either apologize to her or stay away from her or you'll be answering to me, do you understand?" he said so coldly that all the three boys just nodded quickly, extremely frightened by the gleam in Harry's eye.

Satisfied Harry straightened up, "Good, but before I leave…." He turned around and punched Ron hard in the jaw knocking him out. "Ahh, that felt good," he said rubbing his knuckles and turned around and left leaving one unconscious boy and two scared twins behind.

During dinner that night McGonagall summoned Harry to the head table where Ron was standing looking extremely smug and the twins were looking uncomfortable.

"Yes professor?" Harry said politely.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley came to me this evening with various wounds and claimed to have been attacked by you. Is this true?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about professor," Harry said innocently.

"Do not lie to me Potter, I myself saw you walking into the hall and a minute later the twins carrying Mr. Weasley who was unconscious," she snapped.

"Perhaps they had a fight amongst themselves and saw fit to put the blame on me?" said Harry. "I might have been at the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all."

"What are you accusing Mr. Potter for this time Minerva?" said Snape who had just arrived.

"Mr. Potter has attacked all these three boys and is denying the fact that he did," she said irritably.

"Is this true Mr. Potter?"

"I think what professor McGonagall is trying to say is that she caught me preventing these Gryffindor's from attacking one of our house mate's professor Snape," Harry said blinking innocently.

"Is that true, Mr. Weasley?" Snape said turning towards Ron.

"He was interfering in a family argument," Ron said rudely.

"10 points from Gryffindor for speaking rudely to a professor and detention with Mr. Filch after Christmas," said Snape smirking at the red faced Weasley.

McGonagall glared at Ron furiously, "What argument did you have Mr. Weasley?"

"An argument about how ashamed they are that Ginevra Weasley is in Slytherin and how her mother would hate her because she is in Slytherin and hexing her because she's a Slytherin," said Harry with a little anger in his voice before Ron could say a single word.

McGonagall turned on the three boys shocked.

"Is- is this true?" she said, her voice trembling. Even Snape was looking angry.

"He's lying professor," said Ron confidently, assuming McGonagall would favor him.

"Fred?" she said looking at the twin.

Both the twins looked down shame faced, "Its true professor, but we didn't curse her at all. We were only joking around."

"I don't believe it, my own students attacking their own sibling," she said furiously. "50 points from Gryffindor and a week's worth detentions for all three of you with professor Snape!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh. McGonagall rounded on him, "A detention with Professor Lockhart for attacking another student Mr. Potter," she said.

Harry looked outraged, "That's not fair!"

"You should have brought the matter to the attention of a professor instead of taking matters into your own hands Mr. Potter," she said severely.

"Alright professor, next time I see a student being attacked, I'll just sit back and enjoy the show," he spat and turned around and headed back to his common room leaving one smiling and one flustered teacher behind.

He glanced back at Snape and gave him a betrayed look for not supporting him but Snape just smirked and didn't say a word. Harry couldn't understand that man, he would say he would support and help every Slytherin but when it came to him he would just ignore him and never look him in the eye for some reason.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Christmas**

Harry and Draco were sitting comfortably in the common room opening their presents.

"You forgot one Potter," said Draco pointing to a medium sized box with colorful wrapping. "Trust me Draco, you don't want to open that one," he said grinning.

"Why not?"

"It's from Austin," Harry replied.

"Austin?" Draco said looking disgusted, "Why would that mudblood be sending you presents?"

"Don't say that word," said Harry sharply "And it's not a real gift, it's a prank gift."

"Hmmm, whatever, we'll get Crabbe or Goyle to open it later then," he said dismissively.

"Whatever," Harry muttered and banished his gifts to his room except for the one Austin had sent.

"Hey, my dad didn't send me a gift!" exclaimed Draco.

"Really?" Harry said, mildly amused by the blondes reaction.

"Yeah….. Maybe he forgot," he muttered "Or maybe it's something dangerous," he said his face lighting up. "Well see you around Harry, got to write to my dad."

Rolling his eyes, Harry got up and made his way to the great hall for breakfast. Harry couldn't help but gasp when he entered the great hall. It was beautiful. There was huge beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the hall, there were balloons floating all around and Peeves was busy bursting each of them when they came near him, laughing like a maniac whenever one reached him. Professor Flitwick was enchanting the ceiling to make snow flakes fall.

Impressed Harry went to the Slytherin table to eat. Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to be in deep conversation. Snape was looking sour as usual and kept glaring at everyone around him. Vector and Sprout were laughing and Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet of wine.

After finishing his food Harry was about to leave the hall when he spotted Crabbe and Goyle hurrying towards him. "What's up, you two?" Harry said walking out of the great hall.

"Hey Potter," greeted Goyle panting.

"Potter? Since when have you started calling me Potter?"

"Err…. Yeah… sorry," Goyle stammered.

"Never mind," Harry said rolling his eyes "You going back to the common room?"

"Yeah"

"Well let's go then," Harry said and headed back to the common room.

"Say, pot…. Harry," said Crabbe.

"Yeah"

"Do you know who the heir of Slytherin is?"

"It's me," Harry replied instantly.

Both Crabbe and Goyle stopped in their tracks, shocked.

"I-I-its you?" stammered Crabbe.

"Maybe, maybe not," he said shrugging, "But if I told you who it was, I'd have to kill you," he said looking them straight in the eye.

Both the thugs were looking extremely nervous and scared. Suddenly Harry started laughing loudly, "The look on your faces," he said chuckling.

"Yeah very funny, Harry, lets get going," grumbled Crabbe.

Harry stopped laughing and looked at Crabbe curiously.

"What?"

"Since when did you start talking so much?" Harry asked suspiciously, "Usually it's always a grunt or a nod."

"Err… Yeah… Well…" muttered Crabbe, looking very nervous.

"Oh well, whatever, none of my business anyway," dismissed Harry as they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room. "Pureblood," he said facing the wall.

"Honestly they can't put any decent passwords can they, like Weasley is a moron or something like that," muttered Harry. He didn't notice Goyle clenching his fists.

Malfoy came bounding down the stairs, "Oh, there you are Harry; I've got something cool to show you."

"Say Draco, do you know who the heir of Slytherin is," asked Goyle.

"How many times have I told you two, I don't know! Though I wish I did, I would help the guy," said Draco.

Harry frowned at them, "What's with you two, trying to find out who the heir is all by yourselves are you? I thought you didn't care as long as you weren't attacked?"

"Err… no… we just wanted to know," said Crabbe lamely.

Before Harry could question them further, Draco interrupted, "My dad sent me my Christmas gift and you won't believe what it is!" he said excitably.

"Hmmm, what is it?" Harry asked curiously, not many things made the Malfoy heir so excitable.

"First you open the gift that mudblood sent you then I'll show you mine," he said.

"Are you crazy!" said Harry incredulously "There might be poison gas in there!"

"Ok then, Goyle, open that gift on the table near the fireplace," said Draco.

Goyle looked extremely flustered, "It's Harry's gift why can't he open it?" he said.

Draco narrowed his eyes, "Since when have you started questioning my orders Goyle?"

Looking at Crabbe helplessly Goyle slowly walked towards the box and opened it. There was a hiss and with a yelp Goyle leapt back.

"What happened?" asked Harry eagerly.

Slowly Goyle turned around and Harry and Draco burst out laughing. Goyle's face was completely blue and yellow and green tentacles were sprouting from his face.

"I can't believe she came up with this on her own?" said Harry.

"Why not?" Crabbe asked indignantly which Harry mistook for confusion.

"She's dumb, I'm sure Granger had something to do with this," said Harry simply and turned towards Malfoy completely missing the look of fury that passed on Crabbe's face. "Your turn Malfoy, what's the cool gift your dad sent you?"

"Oh yeah, check it out," he said opening gesturing towards one of the tables. He went next to it opened the covering. Crabbe and Goyle gasped while Harry just peered at the glass box.

"That's a snake," gasped Goyle, the tentacles on his face comically bouncing up and down.

"Yep," Draco said proudly, "Dad says it makes me more Slytherin. It's a viper but without the poison so I can scare as many Gryffindor's as I want," he said grinning widely. "What do you think Harry?"

Harry just stared at the snake curiously and the snake stared back.

" _Hello,"_ said Harry.

" _You are a speaker,"_ the snake hissed.

" _Yes, do you like being inside this glass chamber?"_

" _No, I dislike it very much, these humans have removed my poison,"_ the snake hissed angrily.

" _I'm sorry, but don't worry, you're new master will take good care of you."_

" _I want food, I am hungry,"_ it hissed.

Harry turned back towards Draco, "You're snake's hungry, Draco. Got something to feed it?"

Draco and Goyle looked terrified while Crabbe just looked confused by the way Draco and Goyle were acting.

"What? What's with those faces?"

"You… you're… you're a Parselmouth!" exclaimed Draco.

"Huh, what are you talking about, I was speaking in English."

"No you weren't, I heard you, you were speaking Parseltongue, all I heard was hissing," said Goyle looking really scared.

"Wow... that... that's cool," replied Harry "I never knew I could speak Parseltongue. I mean I spoke to a snake once in the zoo but I never realized I was speaking in a different language!"

"You're a dark wizard!" shouted Goyle.

"Stop yelling stupid things tentacle face. You don't even know the definition of a dark wizard and I don't get what the big deal is!"

"Big deal," replied Draco faintly "Salazar Slytherin was famous for being a Parselmouth!"

"I know," Harry replied confused as to why they were reacting like that.

"You know! So it is you! You are the heir of Slytherin!" exclaimed Goyle.

"Of course not you dolt, just because I can speak parseltongue, doesn't mean I'm the heir," he scoffed.

"How- how long have you known you can speak to snakes?" asked Draco.

"Hmmm, I told you, I spoke to a snake in the zoo once and this is the second time, but I don't get what's the big deal, so what if I can speak to snakes, I'm sure loads of other people can speak it too."

"No, they can't! Being a Parselmouth is the mark of a dark wizard and the last known parselmouth was the dark lord. If anyone apart from us finds out you're in big trouble! Makes you even more qualified to be the heir, since half the school thinks you're the heir anyway," said Draco.

"Well then none of you are going to squeal on me are you? I had enough of rumors being spread about me and I don't need more," Harry said, narrowing his eyes, his entire demeanor changing from confused to threatening.

"No, of course not," replied Crabbe nervously.

"I-I got-gotta go," stammered Goyle, "My face hurts," he said and pulled Crabbe along with him and rushed out of the common room.

"What's up with those two?" Harry said staring at them as they literally ran out of the common room.

"Forget those idiots," snapped Malfoy "You're a bloody parselmouth!"

"Okay look Draco… Yes, I can speak Parseltongue and you gaping at me is not going to change the fact that I am a parselmouth! So just forget about it and just don't tell anyone else, alright?"

Draco hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"Good, now I'm going to bed, I have detention with Lockhart tomorrow and I need my sleep if I'm going to survive," he said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Draco grinned weakly as Harry went up the stairs. Just as Harry vanished from sight the common room entrance slid open and Crabbe and Goyle came in, looking as confused as ever.

"Back so soon?" Draco asked them.

They just nodded dumbly. "Good, I'll be in my room," he said and then added under his breath, "After all I have an important letter to write."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The fake Crabbe and Goyle ran all the way to moaning myrtle's bathroom. Crabbe's hair was lengthening slowly and Goyle's hair was turning red. Seconds later in place of Crabbe and Goyle were Lillian and Ron.

"I told you," said Ron panting.

"Told me what?"

"I told you he's the heir of Slytherin."

"Oh, come on Ron, just because he can talk to snakes doesn't make him the heir of Slytherin does it!" she said exasperatedly.

Ron goggled at her, "Are you crazy, he said it himself that he's the heir, and then he spoke Parseltongue, MARK OF A DARK WIZARD!" he yelled making all the tentacles on his blue face wiggle.

If the situation wasn't so serious she would have burst out laughing.

"Listen Ron, so what if he spoke to the snake! I know he's not the heir, it's not like him to attack muggleborns and besides, he did help stop Quirrell last year," she said.

"Why are you defending him, you hate him."

"I'm not defending him," she said annoyed, "I'm just telling the truth."

"You like him," accused Ron.

"What! Are you crazy!" she shrieked, "Why do you think that!" she demanded whipping out her wand unconsciously.

"Err… sorry, wasn't thinking," he said nervously, eying her wand, knowing how good she was with hexes. After all he had been at the receiving end too many times.

Lillian just sighed, "Whatever, lets go and talk to Hermione," she said and hurried to the bathroom.

"Hermione… Hermione are you still in there?"

"Go away!" Hermione squeaked.

Lillian and Ron looked at each other.

"What's the matter?" asked Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are."

Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door. They had never seen her looking so happy.

"Ooooooh, wait till you see," she said gleefully. "It's awful-"

They heard the lock slide back and Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head.

"What's up?" said Ron uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"

Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink. Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair.

"It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"

"Uh-oh," said Lillian.

"You'll be teased dreadfully," said Myrtle happily.

"Ron?" said Hermione sniffing.

"Yeah Hermione?"

"What happened to your face?"

If it were possible Ron's face became even more blue and Lillian covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing.

Hermione looked at her and her lower lip trembled, she was about to cry again, "You... you're laughing at me aren't you?"

"No, not at you Hermione, never at you," she said before Hermione started crying again. "I'm laughing at blueberry boy over here."

Hermione gave a small laugh and then started to cry again, "I'm going to look like this for the rest of my life!" she wailed.

"Its okay, Hermione," said Lillian quickly. "Ron will take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions ..."

"Why me!" demanded Ron.

"Coz you're blue in the face," she said immediately.

"Why can't you come with us!"

"I have some things to do," she said evasively.

"What things?" Ron said immediately.

"Ron, if you consider Hermione as your friend take her to the hospital wing and tell her what happened in the Slytherin common room, I'm sure you'd love to tell her that we found out who the heir of Slytherin is!" she snapped and rushed out of the bathroom.

As soon as she left the bathroom, she ran towards the astronomy tower. She was extremely worried and needed a place to calm down and think. After all what would Ron and Hermione say if she told them, she understood every word that Harry had said to the snake!


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – Deadly Confrontation's: Part One**

Lillian sat in her room with a triumphant smile on her face. She had finally done it. She could actually conjure fire at will. After days of practice she had finally done it!

She glanced at the book beside her and the note stuck to it. There was no name but there was no doubt in her mind about who had sent it. After all, a burst of water did hit her in the face before revealing the book.

It was a book on mediation for the short tempered with a note stuck on it.

 _Read this book, it will help you with your metal capabilities and temper, so you can control what you wish to control if you catch my drift ... Once you finish reading it, concentrate on conjuring fire in your hands, that's all. If you're lucky it will happen in a few minutes. But, if you don't focus properly it will take you ages. And if you can't manage it after that, it simply means you have a brain like Weasley._

 _Merry Christmas_

Why would he help her, she had no idea. In the hospital wing she was so sure he would refuse but was surprised when he said he would think about it.

"Harry Potter," she sighed. He confused her to no end. He would bug her to no end, yet help her whenever she asked him. The boy was a walking, talking, _annoying_ oxymoron.

Every time she saw him, her hands would itch to curse him till he wasn't recognizable, yet she always went to him for help and answers. Why she went to him and not Hermione, who practically lived in the library she couldn't understand.

"What kind of a person was he?" she wondered. He was cold and rude to everybody around him except a few select individuals, he hated being the centre of attraction, he was a Slytherin, he was the top student in their year without even trying, he loved insulting her at every chance he got, hung out only with Blaise Zabini, and was a parselmouth. That's all everybody knew about him.

Her heart constricted when she thought about him being a parselmouth. How did she understand him? She was a muggleborn wasn't she? Then how on earth could she speak parseltongue?

Ron and Hermione had immediately said that being a parselmouth was a mark of a dark wizard and Hermione started spouting whatever she had read in some rare book she found in the library. Did this mean she was dark and liable to become evil or something?

She punched her pillow in frustration. She had so many questions and she didn't know whom to ask. Her first thought was Harry but knew she couldn't ask him. If she did she would have to reveal how she got to know he is a parselmouth and she was sure he wouldn't hesitate to go to his head of house with a big smile on his face. Even if she did ask him she was afraid of the answer even though she knew she shouldn't be. After all Harry wasn't dark was he?

She wanted to yell and scream at the lack of answers and an outlet was formed when a ball of fire erupted from her hand and ignited the hangings around her bed.

Yelping she scrambled out of her bed and yanked the hangings down and began to stamp the fire out. The other girls in the room began to scream and ran out of the room screaming for help. Suddenly, a stream of water hit the fire putting it out instantly.

For a moment she thought it was Harry, but it turned out to be Hermione, a small stream of water coming out of her wand.

Once the fire was out Hermione turned towards Lillian, who was grinning sheepishly.

"What on earth happened!" she demanded.

"Spell gone wrong, Hermione," she said cheerfully "Nothing else."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Be careful next time for Merlin's sake." Hermione had recovered her mishap with the polyjuice potion and was back to her normal self, to Ron and Lillian's relief.

"Yeah, sure Hermione," she said laughing nervously.

"What's that book you're reading?" she asked, spotting Harry's gift on her bed. But before Lillian could stop her she had grabbed the book.

"NO! Don't read… it ..." she finished looking on helplessly.

"20 ways to prove I'm dumb?" she read. "What on earth is this book!" she said incredulously.

Lillian gaped at her, "Let me see that," she said and snatched the book back. When she looked at it, the note and the name of the book were still the same. Then it struck her, Harry must have charmed it. "Err…. Well… I was going to send that to Potter as a Valentine's Day gift," she invented quickly.

"Valentine's Day gift for Potter! Have you lost your mind!"

"Possibly," Lillian muttered, stuffing the book under her bed.

"Honestly," huffed Hermione, "Well come on, Ron will be waiting for us."

"Now?" she said blankly.

"Yes now, it's almost dinner time," Hermione said exasperatedly, pulling her out of the dorm.

"Finally you come down," Ron said angrily "You have any idea how long I've been waiting!"

"Oh shut up Ron, it's not even seven yet," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

Lillian just ignored him. She hadn't quite forgiven him for accusing her of sneaking around with Potter and being in league with him as he had told Hermione, just because she thought he wasn't the heir. She wondered how long it would be before he revealed it to everybody that Harry was a parselmouth.

The mood in the castle had grown more hopeful. There had been no attacks since the one on Colin. Term would be over in a few months and hopefully the culprit would be caught by then.

"Why do you think Potter's stopped attacking, Hermione?" Ron asked loudly, as they headed down to the great hall. Lillian rolled her eyes; he must have asked that question a thousand times when there was a crowd and forced herself not to respond.

"We have no proof Ronald and I don't think he's stopped. I think he's just lying low and waiting for everybody to drop their guard and then he'll attack," she replied.

"Any idea what the monster could be?" he asked her.

"No, none at all, I remember reading about it in Hogwarts a history but I left my copy at home and all the copies in the library have vanished and anybody I ask doesn't seem to have one," she said exasperatedly.

Lillian smiled to herself, she had a copy but there was no way in hell she was about to give it to Hermione. She didn't know why she was doing this, but for some reason she didn't want them to gain more proof pointing towards Harry. It wasn't that she was doing it for him… she was doing it for her too. If they could name him the heir of Slytherin for being a parselmouth, then they might as well call her the heir too and accuse her of all the attacks.

"I don't get it why we can't tell everyone he's a parselmouth, I'm sure he'll be thrown out once the teachers find out," she heard Ron say.

"We can't Ron, because we don't have any proof like I said before. We could go to any teacher but as long as they don't hear him speak it, they can't and won't do anything."

"Then throw a snake at him and make him talk to it," he said irritably.

Hermione stopped in her tracks and looked at Ron with amazement. "That is a great idea!" she exclaimed. "We could get him to speak to it and everybody will know!"

Lillian stepped in front of them, a look of fury on her face. "You will do no such thing," she said firmly.

Hermione and Ron goggled at her. "What's wrong with you Mary? Don't you want him to be caught?" Hermione asked frowning.

Lillian took a deep breath, "Look, maybe he is a parselmouth, but that is no way to confirm he's the heir." Hermione was about to interrupt but Lillian raised her hand effectively stopping her from saying anything, "If we actually see him attacking someone, only then can we expose him, until then just keep an eye on him alright?" she said, hoping they would agree with her.

To her relief they both nodded grudgingly. "But I'm getting Fred and George to tail him," said Ron.

"Do whatever you want," muttered Lillian just as they entered the great hall.

Lillian and Hermione went to the corner of the Gryffindor table and Ron, true to his word went and pulled his twin brothers to one corner.

"Listen, Fred, George, I think I know who the heir of Slytherin is," Ron began in a low voice filled with self importance.

Fred gasped, "Our Ronnikiens has been doing detective work, brother of mine!"

George nodded seriously, "Too true and I think he's going to name…"

"Harry Potter," the both chorused together.

"Wha – How did you know!"

"It's rather simple, you hate him."

"He's a Slytherin."

"He beat you."

" _And_ us in a duel."

"So it's obvious you think it's him!"

Ron growled, "It's not just me, Hermione thinks so too and if you'll listen to me I'll tell you why."

Fred and George looked at each other, "Alright, our ears are wide open, little brother."

"Potter's a parselmouth."

This time Fred and George gasped for real. "Are you sure!"

"Yeah, Mary and I heard him speaking to a snake," he said importantly.

"Where did you see him?"

"We snuck into the Slytherin common room to find out who the heir is. Potter at first accepted the fact that he is the heir and then denied it in front of everyone else. Malfoy had gotten a snake for Christmas and we heard Potter speaking to it."

"Wow Ron, I'm impressed. You actually managed to get into the snake's common room. We've wanted to sneak in since our first year!"

"Well that's not important now, the thing is I wanted you guys to tail Potter and catch him red handed when he sneaks into the chamber wherever it is or attacks someone. I know you guys are the best at sneaking around unseen."

"You are absolutely right, Ronnikiens, we are the best at this job," said Fred.

"Fear not, if Potter's the one he'll be caught before he can say Quidditch," said George.

"After all we have the right tools don't we Forge?"

"Damn right we do Gred."

"Now Ronnikiens, we have a dinner to finish and some girls to woo, so if you'll excuse us…." They said and hurried over to Angelina and Katie who had just arrived.

Ron grinned triumphantly, thinking he had just accomplished something big. The one time he uses his brain and he's chasing the wrong person. What a pity.

Hidden behind a tapestry was a little girl with red hair who was grinning in amusement, "So, Potter is a parselmouth… interesting… Well little Ginevra, we have important work to do."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Gilderoy Lockhart seemed to think he himself had made the attacks stop. Harry overheard him telling Professor McGonagall while the Slytherin's were lining up for Transfiguration.

"I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. "I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him."

"You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing . . ." He tapped his nose again and strode off.

Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. Harry hadn't had much sleep because of a late running Quidditch practice the night before, and he hurried down to the Great Hall, slightly late. He thought, for a moment, that he'd walked through the wrong doors. The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Harry went over to the Slytherin table, where almost all the Slytherin's were looking sickened and a few girls were overcome by giggles, Parkinson included.

"What's going on?" Harry asked them, sitting down and wiping confetti off his bacon.

Blaise pointed to the teachers table, apparently too disgusted to speak.

Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced. From where he sat, Harry could see a muscle twitching in Professor McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele-Gro.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all - and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" said Lockhart beaming. "They will be roaming around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

"Please tell me you weren't one of the forty six, Blaise," Harry said trying to fight the grin forming on his face.

Blaise glared at him with murder in his eyes, "If you weren't my best friend, I would stick you to Lockhart's arse for the rest of your life."

Harry chuckled, "Just checking Blaise, just checking."

All day long, the dwarfs kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, to the annoyance of the teachers, and late that afternoon as the Slytherin's were walking upstairs for Charms, one of the dwarfs caught up with Harry.

"Oye, you! 'Arry Potter!" shouted a particularly grim-looking dwarf, elbowing people out of the way to get to Harry.

Hot all over at the thought of being given a valentine in front of a line of first years, which happened to include Ginny Weasley. Harry looked at the dwarf horrified, he looked around for an escape route but the dwarf sensing his thoughts, cut his way through the crowd by kicking people's shins, and reached him before he'd gone two paces. "I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," he said, twanging his harp in a threatening sort of way.

"Not here," Harry hissed, "Or you'll find your head so far up your arse that you'll be singing that message to your intestines you understand me, dwarf!" said Harry drawing out his wand.

"Right, lead the way then," the dwarf grunted pushing Harry ahead, not fazed by Harry's threat at all. "Get back to your classes," Harry snapped at the students standing around him.

Growling at the back of his throat Harry literally threw the dwarf into an empty class room. "Right, sing that bloody valentine and get the hell out."

"Here is your singing valentine:

 **His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,**

 **His hair is as dark as a blackboard.**

 **I wish he was mine, he's really divine,**

 **The hero who conquered the Dark Lord"**

"You done," Harry said gritting his teeth.

"Yes," it grunted and walked out of the room.

"If I ever find out who sent this valentine, that person will wish they were never born… Aw, crap, I'm ten minutes late for class," he muttered, kicking a chair in his way.

Hurrying out of the empty class room he headed for his charms class but suddenly stopped short half way.

Fred and George Weasley were laying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, their eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. And that wasn't all. Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight Harry had ever seen.

It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was hanging precariously on his neck and his face wore an expression of shock identical to the twins.

Harry stared in front of him, his breathing fast and shallow, his heart was doing a kind of drum roll against his ribs. He looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the bodies. The only sounds were the muffled voices of the teachers from the classes on either side.

As he stood there, unable to think, a door right next to him opened with a bang. Peeves the Poltergeist came shooting out. "Why, it's potty wee Potter!" cackled Peeves, knocking Harry's glasses askew as he bounced past him. "What's Potter up to? Why's Potter lurking..."

Peeves stopped, halfway through a midair somersault. Upside down, he spotted the twins and Nearly Headless Nick. He flipped the right way up, filled his lungs, and before Harry could stop him, he screamed,

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"

Crash - crash - crash - door after door flew open along the corridor and people flooded out. For several long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion that twins were in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Nearly Headless Nick. Harry found himself pinned against the wall as the teachers shouted for quiet. Professor McGonagall came running, followed by her own class, one of whom still had black-and-white-striped hair. She used her wand to set off aloud bang, which restored silence, and ordered everyone back into their classes. No sooner had the scene cleared somewhat Ronald Weasley came panting, on the scene followed closely by Lillian and Hermione.

Ron's eyes bulged when the saw his twin brothers. He looked up and saw Harry standing there expressionless. "MURDERER!" he shouted, pointing his finger at Harry.

"Shut up Weasley, I had nothing to do with this," said Harry calmly, but inside he was panicking, there was no way anyone would believe him now, teachers included.

All of a sudden Ron rushed at him fists raised, ready to knock the living daylights out of him. But Harry just side stepped him, grabbed his neck and slammed him into the wall.

"I said I had nothing to do with this," he said whispered dangerously in Ron's ear "And you best stop opening your mouth so often or something might happen to you."

This obviously was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time.

"Let him go Harry Potter!" shrieked McGonagall.

Harry left him and Ron slid to the ground coughing. He looked up at Harry with pure loathing and said, "He's a parselmouth."

Even though he said it in a low voice, everybody heard it. Harry eyes widened in surprise, did he just speak in parseltongue? No he only did that when he was face to face with a snake. Then how did Weasley know? Slowly everyone started muttering to each other about this revelation.

He heard traces of the student's voices, some muttering about purebloods, something about dark wizards, and all such nonsense which almost sent Harry over the edge.

McGonagall used her wand to set off another bang and everybody shut their mouths immediately. The twins were carried up to the hospital wing by Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department, but nobody seemed to know what to do for Nearly Headless Nick. In the end, Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan out of thin air, which she gave to Ernie McMillan of Hufflepuff with instructions to waft Nearly Headless Nick up the stairs. This Ernie did, fanning Nick along like a silent black hovercraft.

"Come with me Mr. Potter," she said.

"But, I didn't do anything and you didn't even see me doing anything!" he said furiously.

"Are you going to come along or shall I force you Mr. Potter," she said pointing her wand at him, her hand trembling.

Harry looked at her incredulously. He couldn't believe a teacher, Professor McGonagall, was holding him at wand point. He couldn't believe what was happening. He saw Blaise and the rest of the Slytherin's looking at him, expressionless. He looked at Ron and Hermione, who looked somewhat triumphant. He saw Lillian who looked regretful and sad?

Holding his head high, he glared at the transfiguration teacher and said, "Lead the way, _Minerva_." McGonagall looked shocked but just poked her wand in his back pushing him forward. They marched in silence and a few minutes later she stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle.

"Lemon drop!" she said. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Harry couldn't fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As he and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. He knew now where he was being taken. This must be where Dumbledore lived.

They stepped off the stone staircase at the top, and Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. It opened silently and they entered. Professor McGonagall told Harry to wait and left him there, alone. Harry looked around. One thing was certain; of all the teachers offices Harry had visited so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting. If he hadn't been so furious and pissed and scared about being sent back to the Dursley's, he would have been very pleased to have a chance to look around it.

It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat - the Sorting Hat.

Then a strange, gagging noise behind him made him wheel around. He wasn't alone after all. Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird that resembled a half-plucked turkey. Harry stared at it and the bird looked balefully back, making its gagging noise again. Harry thought it looked very ill. Its eyes were dull and, even as Harry watched, a couple more feathers fell out of its tail. Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbledore's pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it, when the bird burst into flames.

Harry gaped at the bird in shock; the bird, meanwhile, had become a fireball; it gave one loud shriek and next second there was nothing but a smoldering pile of ash on the floor.

"A phoenix," Harry whispered.

"You are right, Mr. Potter, Fawkes is a phoenix," Dumbledore said from behind him, looking somber, holding a book under his arm. He gently picked the bird coming out of the ashes and placed it on its perch. "Please take a seat Harry," he said gesturing to the seat in front of him.

Hesitantly Harry took a seat. Looking at the headmaster, his anger began to rise. Here was the man who had left him with the Dursley's, who had not told him that he was his magical guardian, had not told him about his vaults. But he managed to control himself and look the headmaster in the eye.

"It's a pity you had to see Fawkes on his burning day Harry," said Dumbledore seating himself behind his desk. "He's really very handsome most of the time, wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes…. They can carry immense loads…"

"Carry immense loads, tears have healing powers and are very faithful. I know," Harry said in monotonous voice that betrayed nothing of what he was feeling.

Dumbledore chuckled lightly, "I don't think many students read as much as you do Harry. With the exception of Miss Granger and a few Ravenclaw's I think."

Harry didn't say anything but stare back at Dumbledore with a stony expression on his face.

Seeing Harry wasn't amused Dumbledore sighed and took of his glasses and fixed Harry with a penetrating light blue stare. "Is there anything you want to tell me Harry? Anything at all?" he said softly.

There were many things he wanted to tell the man but he didn't. "No Professor, nothing at all," he said, with a little sarcasm in his voice.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, looks like he had to try different tactics to get him to talk. "Is it true you are a parselmouth?"

Harry sighed, "Yes….. Now are you going to expel me or throw me in prison for being one?"

"No, Harry, I am not, parseltongue is just a misunderstood ability. But I must ask you do you know anything about these attacks, anything at all?"

"No, I don't," he said staring into Dumbledore's eyes defiantly.

Dumbledore was frustrated. He couldn't even scan the boy's surface thoughts. There was no way he could determine if Harry was telling the truth or not. Sighing inwards he placed the book he brought with him in front of Harry.

"Do you recognize this book, Harry?" he asked him, watching him carefully for his reaction.

When the book was placed in front of Harry, his mouth dropped open in shock. "The old man had been sneaking around his room!" he thought furiously.

"Since my name is written on it, I think I just might," Harry said gritting his teeth.

"Then would you care to explain me why have you compiled a book on the darkest curses to exist in the magical world?"

"How dare you sneak into my room and go through my things," Harry hissed.

Dumbledore could literally feel the room temperature dropping. He then realized making an elemental angry is not the wisest to do, so he raised his arms in surrender.

"Professor Snape found this book in the common room, Harry. And he read the contents and then realized it belonged to you. I assure you we haven't been looking through your personal belongings."

Harry looked at Dumbledore skeptically, "In the common room?"

"Yes, in the common room, he showed me the book just before Professor McGonagall came to me and informed me of…. recent events."

"So is this your proof that I'm the heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked him, snorting.

"No Harry, I do no think you are the heir of Slytherin," Dumbledore said calmly.

Whatever Harry was going to say next was forgotten. He stared at Dumbledore in shock. "What did you say?"

"I do not think you are the heir of Slytherin, Harry."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't."

"Then why this interrogation, why are we here talking about that book, my Parseltongue ability and god knows what else!" Harry demanded, "Why!"

"The main reason I am talking to you Harry, is because of this book," he said, putting his hand over Harry's book of dark arts.

"If that's the case then I should tell you that I have another book which contains the opposite of those spells. In other words spells and curses you would approve off or like Weasley would say light magic, the idiot."

"Is that so," Dumbledore said quietly, "Then may I ask what motivated you to make this book?"

"Yes you may. Although, I may be… _disinclined_ to answer," Harry spat.

"Harry I just want to help you, guide you," he said.

"Guide me! Help me! Have you lost your marbles old man!" Harry shouted standing up. "If you wanted to help me, why did you leave me with the Dursley's? Why didn't you tell me you are my guardian! Huh? Why didn't you inform me of my vaults? You left me to be raised with monsters, and kept me from the truth, which by far is the worst thing you have done to me!"

At every accusation Dumbledore grew paler and paler.

"And finally, where is the will of my parents which supposedly made you my magical guardian!"

Harry was seething now, one wrong word from Dumbledore and there was no doubt in the headmaster's mind that Harry would loose control and attempt to level his office to ground.

"TELL ME!" Harry screamed banging his fist in the table ignoring the outraged voices of the portraits berating him.

Dumbledore seemed to suddenly age 10 years during Harry's rant. Removing his glasses he looked at Harry regretfully. "Please sit down Harry."

"No."

"I shall be honest with you if you would just sit down and let me explain."

Glaring at the headmaster, he sat in his chair folding his arms waiting for Dumbledore to speak.

"Would you tell me how you got this information Harry," he said gently.

Harry just glared at him not opening his mouth.

"Please Harry."

"The goblins," Harry answered finally. "When I asked them to tell me how much money I had, they sent me to a goblin named blood something and he told me everything."

"Of course," Dumbledore muttered.

"Of course what?"

"Nothing Harry, nothing at all."

"Well then are you going to start explaining?"

"What do you want to know first?"

"Why don't you just start talking," Harry said rudely.

"To start talking one must know where to start," Dumbledore said jokingly.

"Don't…." he said, his voice trembling with fury, but he calmed himself and decided to just comply with the headmasters wishes…. for now. "Why didn't you tell me you were my magical guardian?"

"I didn't tell you because you didn't need to know. If I told you earlier would it make any difference? I felt it would be best if our relationship was limited to student and teacher."

Harry didn't know how to respond to that, he realized the old coot was somewhat right but that only brought up a hundred different questions in his head.

"If things were to remain as student and teacher, then why didn't you tell me about my vaults? Did you start acting like a father and thought 'Oh, the boy will spend all the money, we must keep him in line' huh?"

"Yes, I did think that way," Dumbledore admitted. "I was going to tell you when you were at least fifteen or older, when you became more mature."

Harry scoffed, "A magical child who grows up with the Dursley's is a hundred times mature than others."

"What do you mean Harry?" asked Dumbledore frowning.

"Where is the will of my parents?" asked Harry avoiding that question. "How did you become my guardian?"

Dumbledore just looked at Harry calmly, "I assure you I didn't do anything illegal to become your guardian," he said, his eyes boring into Harry's but Harry wasn't fazed one bit. After all he had endured worse at the hands of his uncle.

"I'm sure you didn't," Harry replied coolly, "So where is it?"

Dumbledore flicked his wand and a file came floating towards him. He didn't take his eyes of Harry and neither did Harry—it was as if it were a sort of competition of who backed down first. Finally Dumbledore broke the gaze and opened the file. Harry was crowing victory in his head.

The headmaster took out a parchment and handed it to Harry. "The original copy of your parent's will."

Harry stared at the parchment, feeling a little scared and excited at the same time about finally reading his parent's will.

"Take it, Harry," said Dumbledore, his eyes softening.

Slowly Harry took the parchment from Dumbledore's hand and began to read.

 ** _The Will of James Harold Potter and Lily Evans Potter_**

 _I, James Harold Potter and I, Lily Evans Potter leave everything we own to our son, Harry James Potter. In the case of our death, Sirius Orion Black, Harry James Potter's godfather is to gain custody of our son. If for any valid reason he is not able to take the child, Remus John Lupin is to gain custody, and if Remus John Lupin is unable to care for the child Peter Pettigrew is to raise our son._

 _If none of the above are capable then we leave Albus Dumbledore to choose a good family for our son._

Harry's expression didn't change one bit when he read the will. It was short and simple. Dumbledore was right. He didn't do anything wrong at all. It wasn't mentioned anywhere that Harry wasn't to go to the Dursley's or a Muggle family. He couldn't help but feel a little angry towards his parents for not being specific.

"It's short," Harry commented, dropping the parchment on the table.

"They meant to change it but never got the chance."

"But it said I was to go to my godfather, Sirius Black. What happened to him?"

"He's in Azkaban," Dumbledore said shortly.

"Why?"

Dumbledore didn't respond he just looked even sadder if that was possible.

"Why," Harry asked again, feeling a little nervous.

Dumbledore still didn't say anything.

"Is he dead?"

.

.

.

"Are you going to tell me or just look like your husband has just died?" Harry said, irritably.

"He betrayed your parents," Dumbledore said simply, bowing his head.

There was pin drop silence for a few seconds.

"W-What?"

"He betrayed your parents. He is the reason your parents are dead."

Harry didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to feel. He just felt empty, like he was lost in space. His stony expression crumbled and he looked up at Dumbledore his eyes pleading for answers. "B-but he's… was, my godfather," Harry stammered.

"Harry, this is the reason I didn't want you to read this will. You don't have to know."

"The hell I do! This guy betrayed my parents according to you and you don't want to tell me how and why! I have every right to know!"

Dumbledore sighed, "Sirius Black was your father's best friend. They were like brothers. They were never seen without the other. After your parents graduated they got married straight away. He was their best man. But then, Voldemort started targeting your parents which forced them to go into hiding. I suggested the Fidelius charm. Do you know what that is?"

"I think," Harry replied still in shock.

"Well, the Fidelius Charm is an ancient use of rune magic, warding, essentially, combined with advanced charms. It requires the complete and utter trust from the one who resides in the charm, for the one who is the secret keeper. I asked your parents if they would allow me to be their secret keeper, because someone close to your parents was a spy, but we didn't know who. Your father decided to make Sirius Black their secret keeper and refused to keep anyone else. But a month later, on Halloween 1981, Voldemort found your parents. And the only way he could have known where they were, was if…."

"The secret keeper gave the location to him," Harry replied softly.

"Yes, but then Voldemort was defeated by you and Black fled. But before he got too far, Peter Pettigrew caught up to him. Sirius then killed Pettigrew along with thirteen muggles before he was caught by the Aurors and thrown in Azkaban," he said heavily, sinking back into his chair.

"Is he still alive?"

"Yes, but he's most likely insane by now. Azkaban is guarded by Dementors and anyone would go insane if they lived there for more than a year."

Dumbledore looked at Harry worriedly. He was just staring at the desk in front of him. He patiently waited for him to say something, knowing that such knowledge is bound to cause a number of painful thoughts to go threw his mind.

"What happened to Remus Lupin?" he suddenly asked.

"Sorry?" Dumbledore said a little startled.

"What happened to Remus Lupin, it said that if that man can't take me then he was supposed to raise me."

Dumbledore noticed the bitterness in his voice when he mentioned Sirius indirectly. "He has a terrible illness because of which he couldn't take you and still can't."

"So he's still out there?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't he ever come and visit me or you for that matter. Why didn't you come at least once to just see if I was alive or hadn't run away! What if the Dursley's had killed me!" he asked his voice rising again.

"You don't mean that do you Harry? I'm sure the Dursley's wouldn't mistreat you."

That particular sentence made Harry snap. He laughed loudly, a rather maniacal laugh in Dumbledore's opinion. "You thing they treated me like a normal child! They beat me almost everyday; I was made to work like a slave and was hardly fed anything. If it weren't for my magic I would be dead now. Almost every week their whale of a son and his friends damaged at least one bone in my body-trust me it ain't a cakewalk!" he said, laughing rather insanely again.

Dumbledore was getting rather alarmed by Harry's behavior. "So tell me Dumbledore, do you think that's prince like treatment? If I got better marks than Dudley I was locked in the cupboard for days with just one meal a day. Sometimes I wouldn't even get a meal! Do you know the kid's favorite game in Privet drive? Do you think it was Go Fish? Hide 'n' seek? Maybe checkers? Nope, wrong on all counts. They called it Harry hunting. A rather apt name, I believe. You see, the object of 'Harry Hunting,' was to hunt down Harry. After you caught him, you would hold him up while you kicked him! It was a very entertaining game, professor. I imagine my pulse rate had rocketed past three-hundred at some points."

"But then…." he said grinning, "When I was six, something happened, I had always known I was different, I wasn't like the other kids, I was abnormal," he whispered. "Then I was able to scare the Dursley's with my abnormality, oh how I loved it to see them scared. It was so satisfying that they were scared to even touch me…. So don't you dare tell me that I am lying about how the Dursley's are…And you know what?"

"Its. All. Your. Fault," he said leaning towards Dumbledore, a dangerous glint in his eye. "You are the one responsible my miserable life. You alone, are the epicenter of my problems-not my dead parents. Not even Black. Definitely not Lupin."

Dumbledore was really getting worried now; Harry was acting insane and was reminding him more and more of another boy he had seen almost 50 years ago. The only difference was that he grew up in an orphan age and Harry grew up with his relatives.

He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when Harry finally sank back in his chair looking extremely pained.

"I am truly sorry Harry," he began.

Harry just raised his hand and said, "Don't say that word when you don't know what it means."

"Harry, I…"

"Do you know I almost died last summer," Harry said suddenly.

"No Harry, I don't, Dumbledore said, dreading what Harry might say next.

"I had a block on my magic which was slowly killing me?"

"Excuse me!" Dumbledore said incredulously.

"Someone somehow managed to put a block on my magic which was slowly killing me," he said again sounding far away.

"That's impossible, the block can't kill anyone, and its purpose is to just limit the flow of magic until the person reaches the age of sixteen!" he said, without thinking.

Harry's eyes narrowed when Dumbledore said those words. Even Dumbledore was cursing himself. How long had it been since he let his emotions guide his tongue!

"What did you say?" Harry said dangerously, rising from the chair again.

"Harry, please…"

"It was you wasn't it? You put the block on my magic. After all you're the one who left me with the Dursley's… it was you….." he whispered.

"Harry, sit down," said Dumbledore firmly. Any other witch or wizard wouldn't dare disobey Dumbledore when he spoke in that tone but Harry was beyond reason, all he saw was red.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you?" whispered Harry. There was a flash of light and Harry's wand was in his hand. "Tell me Professor, why shouldn't I kill you for literally destroying my life single handedly?"

"Harry, sit down," he said loudly and firmly, drawing his wand and letting the beginnings of his aura show. But it didn't affect Harry one bit. A silver circle was forming in Harry's eyes as if it was being traced slowly and began to glow. The instant that happened Dumbledore knew Harry was not in control of his senses anymore.

The temperature in the room dropped to freezing and Fawkes flamed out with a squawk. The floor began to freeze below Harry's feet and he slowly raised his wand and the other hand ready to blast Dumbledore to oblivion. The trinkets in office started vibrating and Dumbledore leveled his wand at Harry, uncertain as to what was going to happen. He could feel the power radiating out of Harry, and he found it hard to remove his eyes from Harry's own. Dumbledore sighed. Harry was going to be a powerful wizard one day… Preparing himself, he raised the level of his aura even more, so much so that it was almost visible. Harry's eyes continued to glow, and the circle ran closer and closer to being closed.

But then, the door to Dumbledore's office opened and McGonagall and Snape marched in, Blaise and Ron coming in arguing behind them.

As soon as the door opened they were hit by a blast of freezing air and were almost hurled out of the office. Four eyes widened in shock and fear. McGonagall screamed bloody murder.

As soon as the door opened, Harry turned back sharply and glared at them, his eyes glowing green and silver with half formed silver circles around his eyes. But when he heard McGonagall scream, the half formed silver circles vanished and the room temperature came back to normal and everyone was quiet except for the yells coming from the portraits fallen on the floor.

Harry looked confused for a second before he realized what had happened. He had lost control, just like Lillian. If McGonagall hadn't screamed he couldn't imagine what kind of damage he would have done.

He looked at McGonagall and Snape, both looked extremely shaken and staring at Harry with fear, the latter more with apprehension. Behind them, Weasley and Blaise were kneeling on the floor shivering. Ron was looking plain terrified and flinched horribly when Harry looked at him, Blaise reacted the same way.

Harry just turned back towards Dumbledore and glared at him, before turning around and walking out of the office.

Everybody stared at him as he left the office, nobody attempting to stop him.

"Al-Albus?" said McGonagall hesitantly, her eyes flickering from the headmaster to the door. "What just happened here?"

"Just a terrible mistake Minerva, a terrible mistake," he said wearily collapsing in his chair.

"Back to your common rooms," barked Snape. "Minerva, please escort your student back while I take mine," he said giving her a meaning full look.

She nodded, "Come along Mr. Weasley," she said guiding Ron out who was staring at the floor unable to meet anyone's eyes.

Snape turned back to Dumbledore, "Shall I bring back Mr. Potter, headmaster?"

"No Severus, just leave him for now and thank Minerva for coming in when she did. I'm not sure what I would have had to do to stop him."

Snape nodded and left the office, his robes billowing behind him and Blaise hurried behind him, he had to find Harry.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"In you go Mr. Weasley, your punishment will be handed out later," she said. Ron just nodded, not really listening.

He muttered the password and entered the common room where Lillian and Hermione were waiting for him anxiously.

"Ron, what happened?" said Hermione immediately. "Did you get detention or just loose a large number of house points." Ron just collapsed in the armchair not answering.

"Ron," she said softly again, "What happened?"

He just shook his head in negative.

"Are you thinking about your brothers?" she asked again.

Again he shook his head.

"Then will you bloody tell us what the head said!" said Lillian exasperatedly.

"Mary!" said Hermione, "Something serious must have happened! Give him time!"

Ron laughed when he heard this. Finally he opened his mouth, "Potter was still there."

"Still!" said Lillian incredulously "He was sent there like two hours ago!"

"He and the headmaster were pointing their wands at each other and were about to attack each other."

Silence, the entire common room heard him.

"W-what!" stammered Neville Longbottom "Potter attacked the headmaster?"

Ron just nodded distractedly. "You should have been there. As soon as we entered the Dumbledore's office I felt like something was squeezing my lungs forcing the air out of me, I….," he trailed off.

"What do you mean," asked a third year.

Ron wasn't paying attention to anyone, he didn't even know they were just listening to him but he just went on regardless. "It- it was scary you know, the entire room was freezing cold and the floor was completely frozen, It was like... and Potter's eyes….." he said, a shiver running down his back. "The instant I saw them I just fell to the ground. I couldn't take my eyes of them and yet I just wanted to scream and run as far as I could…. it was like it was crushing the life out of me…. I've never felt so terrified before…. If he had asked me to do something I would have done it without question… They were glowing in a weird way with those half formed silver rings in his eyes….." he just trailed off shuddering.

As soon as he said that Lillian looked at him startled. "What do you mean?" she said.

"I mean his eyes were glowing green and silver and they were scary. When we went in Professor McGonagall screamed and instantly everything became normal in the room, but the fear still lingered," he whispered.

The entire common room was silent, just by watching him half the common room was shaking in fear.

Lillian had, had a number of dreams or rather nightmares after her duel with Harry. Usually she would see herself surrounded by fire with a weird glow in her eye with orange rings in her eyes. The scene would then change to one where she was burning a weak version of herself; she would then proceed to kill everyone in the castle until she was confronted by Harry who had a silver ring in his green eyes. But she always woke up before she could see what happened next. She couldn't figure out what these dreams meant and did they always start of with her killing herself.

"Are you sure Ronald?" asked Percy, fingering his prefect badge.

The whole common room stared at him. Ron looked up blankly.

"Then why hasn't Professor McGonagall informed us prefects," he said, sounding worried. "Its protocol to inform us prefects when such incidents take place. Maybe I should go and..."

Every word Percy said made Ron get angrier and angrier.

"Shut up Percy, you're not so important that the teachers would inform you if someone attacked the HEADMASTER! You're just a sodding stuck up who can't keep his nose out of business that doesn't concern you!" he yelled and stomped up to his dorm.

A few people chuckled nervously but no one else bothered to laugh. They shot filthy looks at Percy and if looks could kill, Percy would be dead a hundred times over.

"Ok everyone, stories over, back to your dorms," he said nervously and hurried back to his own dorm as fast as he could.

Lillian and Hermione exchanged dark looks, "Just watching him describe it is giving me the creeps," Lillian muttered.

"You think Potter's going to be expelled?" asked Hermione, still staring at the stairs to the boys rooms worriedly.

Lillian just shrugged, lost in her own thoughts.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dumbledore was pacing in his office wondering how to approach Harry. There were so many questions running through his head about the boy, like how did Harry know that he had a block on his magical core? What did he mean that it almost killed him… did that mean he managed to remove the block? But Dumbledore knew that was impossible, the block he had put on Harry was one which would disappear over a period of time, there was no way to remove it as far as he knew. On the other hand why was Harry making a list of dark art spells and rituals? What did he mean he managed to scare the Dursley's when he was six, was it accidental magic or was he aware of his powers? And the boys wand… it was the elder wand! He could recognize that wand anywhere and it had chosen Harry! How was that possible? That wand hadn't even accepted him as its master. What did that mean? Is that supposed to be the power the dark lord knows not? How powerful was the boy? And where was he now? Severus had informed him that he wasn't in the dormitory and was last seen in the common room. He needed to find the boy and explain to him why he did what he did.

Sighing he went to the window and stared outside at the darkening sky, relishing the feel of the cool air on his face. He had never felt so out of control of a situation before.

He looked over the Quidditch ground and was surprised to find someone flying at this hour. The boy shot towards the ground at terrifying speed causing Dumbledore's heart to almost pop out of his mouth, but at the last second he gracefully pulled out of the dive and rose in the sky again.

Dumbledore knew only one person who could pull of such death defying moves like those and immediately rushed out of his office and made his way to the Quidditch ground.

Meanwhile, Harry was flying a little too recklessly. Flying always made him feel like he had no troubles at all. And now he needed to forget all he had learnt in the headmaster's office. The betrayal of his godfather, Dumbledore being the one responsible for his magical block, Dumbledore dumping him with the Dursley's, it was all too much for his twelve year old head, even though he wasn't any normal twelve year old.

He heard someone fly up too him and was startled to see Dumbledore flying on one of the school brooms.

"Hello Harry," he greeted cheerfully.

Harry just ignored the headmaster and dived again. When he was back in the sky Dumbledore came flying towards him again. "Harry please let me explain," he begged.

Harry just glared at him at shot off in the opposite direction, away from the headmaster. He knew he was acting a little childish now.

He turned back hoping to see Dumbledore give up but was shocked to see him right next to him.

Groaning in frustration, Harry looked at him, somewhat resigned for what was to come. "What do you want?" he asked flatly.

"I wish to explain to you why I placed a magical block upon you."

"Go ahead then, I'm all ears."

"It was to protect you."

"And please tell me how on earth was that going to protect me?" said Harry, disbelievingly.

"Harry, I knew your relatives did not like magic. So I decided to put a block so that you wouldn't perform accidental magic and anger your relatives. I hoped that they would treat you like their son if you didn't any magic, but clearly it didn't work," he said, the regret evident in his voice.

"They don't like magic? Forgive me professor but I don't thing you understand the magnitude of their hatred of the magical world. Maybe you should stay for a day with them and then you will realize what kind of people they are, I wouldn't be surprised if they put a bullet through you head. Maybe then you will understand what it is like to grow up with the Dursley's."

"I'm so sorry Harry."

"Don't say you're sorry that you left me with the Dursley's when we both know you aren't sorry at all. If you were sorry you'd remove from that hell hole a long time ago or at least sent someone to keep an eye on me," he said tonelessly. Little did he know someone was keeping an eye on him.

Dumbledore didn't say anything but the look on his face said it all.

"I thought so," Harry said quietly, "Although, you haven't told me why you decided to leave me with the Dursley's when you could have left me with any good wizarding family?"

"Do you remember what I told you when you asked me why couldn't Quirrell touch you?"

"How could I forget."

"The same blood that runs within you runs in your mother's sister's Petunia's veins as well. Thus the protection your mother left within you will be the most powerful as long as you are close any of her blood relatives. Using that protection I created wards around your house based on blood. As long as you are within those wards, no one with the intent to cause harm to you can enter."

"Except from within."

Dumbledore sighed, "Harry, you must understand that after Voldemort fell his followers were still around and would have given anything to see you dead for destroying their master. They wouldn't have thought about looking for you in the muggle world and with the blood wards you were practically untouchable. The other reason I didn't want you to grow up in the wizarding world was because everybody saw you as a hero and not a person. Various pureblood families would contest over adopting you for their own political reasons, you would be hero worshipped where ever you went, people would fall over your feet and want to touch you if you came out in public and reporters would constantly hound you for interviews as soon as you were old enough to talk properly. But if you were to live with your relatives, then you would be free to live like a normal child is supposed to live but then, I should have known Petunia Dursley would never consider you as part of her family and would go as far as to mistreat you. Professor McGonagall turned out to be right after all."

Harry quietly ran the headmaster reasoning over and over in his head and to his annoyance he could find no way to contradict him. "What do mean professor McGonagall was right?"

"She was against the idea of you living with the Dursley's."

Harry was surprised, "How many of you were there when you left me with those pigs?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Myself, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid."

"Why on earth were McGonagall and Hagrid there?" As much as Harry hated the man right now, he couldn't stop himself from asking questions.

"That's Professor McGonagall to you Harry," chided Dumbledore. Harry glared at him, not amused at all. "Anyway, professor McGonagall was observing the Dursley's for a day and Hagrid was the one who brought you from Gordic's hollow to the Dursley's."

Dumbledore waited for Harry to ask any other question he had on his mind. He had to gain the boys trust and the only way that would be done was to answer everything he asked truthfully. He himself had loads of questions to ask but they could always wait. After all, the boy would be at Hogwarts for another 5 years.

Ten minutes passed and Harry still hadn't uttered a word. He was just floating silently staring at the moon. Dumbledore couldn't figure out what he was thinking about.

"If you don't have any thing else to ask me Harry, may I ask a few questions of my own?" said Dumbledore.

"Go ahead, ask," Harry said vaguely.

"Your wand," he began hesitantly, "did… Ollivander mention that it had belonged to someone else before you…?"

A small smile could be seen on Harry's face for the briefest of seconds. "The wand does not belong to anybody."

"I see," he said slowly trying to keep the excitement in his voice from showing, "And did the wand choose you?" he said, holding his breath in anticipation of the answer.

"Yes."

"Amazing," breathed Dumbledore.

"What is so amazing about a wand choosing me?" Harry asked, even though he knew Dumbledore had possessed the wand before him.

Dumbledore blinked. "Don't you know the wonderful story behind your wand?"

Harry was amused by the way Dumbledore was acting. "I know the story behind the wand better than anyone else in the world except for its creator of course."

"Did Ollivander tell you…?"

"Ollivander knows nothing, neither do you nor did your friend Grindelwald and the other before him," said Harry.

Dumbledore almost fell off his broom, before realizing he was about 30 feet above the ground. He stared at Harry wide eyed behind his half moon spectacles.

Harry himself was surprised to see Dumbledore react the way he did, he didn't realize he had called Grindelwald Dumbledore's friend. He was even more surprised when he saw the way Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock and _fear?_

"Err…. Professor? Is something wrong?"

"How did you….. What….. How?" stammered Dumbledore.

"What are you talking about sir?" asked Harry, completely confused now.

Dumbledore looked at Harry at bit fearfully before closing his eyes and talking a deep breath and mumbling something incoherent under his breath. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he looked completely normal again. "I'm sorry Harry, just bad memories."

Harry just nodded, not believing the headmaster one bit.

"Ah where we Harry? Yes, you were just about to tell me the story behind that wonderful wand of yours," he said his eyes twinkling.

Harry was amazed by the sudden change in Dumbledore's behavior. One moment he was serious then he looked like he almost suffered a nervous breakdown and now he was acting all cheerful. What kind of a person changed personalities that fast!

"You were saying, Harry?"

"Huh, Oh yeah, I wasn't going to explain the story behind my wand. I merely said that your version of the story was a bit off."

"A bit off….? Would you… care to explain?"

"Sorry sir, but I can't."

Dumbledore frowned and then looked at Harry, his twinkling eyes screaming _TRUST ME_ , "You can trust me Harry," he said gently.

Harry smirked, "Sorry headmaster, but you haven't done anything to earn my trust."

"I'm sorry to hear that Harry, but I hope you will change your mind in the near future," he said sadly, trying to guilt Harry into telling him, but there was no way any self respecting Slytherin would fall for such a trick.

"Maybe," Harry said shrugging, "But it doesn't matter right? After all you're just my headmaster, not my guardian."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to correct Harry, but Harry beat him to it.

"Technically you are, but practically you're not. You said it yourself, your job was to find me a place to live-and I must say, you did that job quite admirably," he said, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

"I am truly sorry about that Harry."

"I have honestly lost count of the number of times you must have said sorry, sir. You seem to be sorry about quite a number of things, don't you?"

Dumbledore realized he was treading on dangerous grounds again. He had to change subjects before Harry would loose whatever little trust Harry had in him.

"Ah before I forget, I have something to return to you Harry," he said and waved his wand.

Harry watched in interest wondering what did Dumbledore have that belonged to him and his interest vanished and anger took its place when he saw the familiar brown covered book flying towards the headmaster.

"Here you are, Harry," he said handing the book to Harry.

Harry accepted the book without saying a word.

"Harry I must warn you, the dark arts may look attractive but they truly destroy a persons soul. I hope you haven't used any of those spells you have in that book, because once you do, there's nothing to stop you from using the more harmful ones," he said seriously.

Harry looked at the headmaster coldly, "Are you accusing me of using the dark arts headmaster?"

"No Harry, I am merely warning you. Even the best of wizards once lured by the dark side are lost to the darkness in a blink on an eye. And I do not want that to happen to you."

"Why? Speaking from personal experience?"

Dumbledore was once again thrown by Harry response. "I… no, I never used the dark arts but I saw a good friend lose himself in the darkness. I tried to make him see light but failed. Now he is wreck, a mere shadow of his former self, powerless and helpless doomed to spend the rest of his life in prison," he said bitterly.

"But enough about my past," he said firmly, Harry knew this was an order, not a request. "Now have you ever used any if these curses?"

"I know the affects of the dark arts better than you professor, why it shouldn't be used and why does it lure people to the dark side. You don't need to lecture me," said Harry.

"Then I am glad, although I am curious why are you listing such curses if you don't plan on using them?"

"Protection and knowledge," said Harry simply.

Dumbledore simply nodded, Harry wondered why he didn't question him about protection against what. "I believe we should head back now Harry, it is way past curfew and we wouldn't your friends to be worried in these dangerous times," he said gravely.

Harry turned back to walk back to the castle and was shocked to see his feet weren't on the ground. Dumbledore chuckled at his disorientation.

"I forgot I was on a broom too… and I must say, this is the first time I have ever had a conversation with a student on a broomstick," he said, his eyes twinkling happily.

Harry smiled, and they headed to back to the ground. Dumbledore banished the broom back to the broom shed and Harry slung his over his shoulder and they walked back to the castle together until they reached the Slytherin common room. Before Harry could utter the password Dumbledore stopped him.

"Harry, I must have said it a thousand times but I am truly sorry and I hope you can forgive me in time," he said regretfully.

"Hmmm… maybe," Harry said vaguely.

"Have a good night Harry," said Dumbledore and walked away.

.

.

.

"Wait professor!"

Dumbledore stopped and looked back.

"Erm… Weasley saw our not so little confrontation in your office and I'm sure he would have spread rumors about it. I was hoping you could do something to…. You know, rectify the situation," he said uncertainly.

"I do my best Harry," he said simply.

"Thank you sir," he said and walked back to his common room.

Dumbledore saw the entrance slid back. Sighing he walked back to his office. He had a lot of explaining to do tomorrow, though on the bright side he had managed to form a bond with Harry. Initially, he had planned on talking to him, make the boy trust him, introducing him to Fawkes and slowly build a relationship with him and guide him on the right path, the one he had hoped Harry would follow. But instead the boy had shown incredible knowledge, was clearly extremely intelligent and perceptive and was incredibly powerful for his age. He shuddered at the thought of what could have happened if Minerva hadn't interrupted them when she did, he would have had to use a powerful restraining spell on boy which would undoubtedly have other consequences, none for the good.

Dumbledore rubbed his forehead tiredly. He looked up and was surprised to find himself back in his office.

"Potter boy giving you trouble, Albus?" said the portrait of Phineas Nigellus slyly.

"You have no idea," muttered Dumbledore.

"I told you, the kids today have no respect for the elderly at all, they need to be strung upside down and beaten to submission until they learn to respect."

"Then I would be no better than Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said softly.

"Maybe if you stopped hiding so many things from the boy, he would learn to trust you, Dumbledore. You'd best stop trying to mould his future to your liking else he will become like the one you lost 50 years ago. If the boy found out what you did last year you can forget any hopes you had of him trusting you. He's not going to grow up to be the perfect hero you wanted. You saw the power he has inside him and you don't want it directed towards you," said the portrait of Armando Dippet.

Dumbledore sighed, "Maybe you're right Armando, I only hope I haven't done to much damage… yet," he said and decided to think what to do with Harry later, after all he needed to make up a story else within a week there would be rumors of Harry nearing killing him and becoming a dark lord in training. He couldn't have the people think bad about Harry, they needed to view him as a good person not a….. He smacked himself on the head. He was doing it again, trying to dictate the boy's life. Maybe he needed to take a vacation, the stress of handling the students fights, Malfoy senior pushing for the headmaster removal as headmaster at every chance he got, Fudge badgering him for advice every second of the day, the chamber of secrets being opened again…. students being attacked, he was sure it wouldn't be long before he would be sacked, no doubt by Lucius Malfoy himself.

"I really need a vacation," he said aloud, walking to his sleeping chamber.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – Deadly Confrontation's: Part Two**

"What do you think would have happened if we hadn't come in when we did?" asked a wide eyed Blaise.

"God only knows, but I'm sure I wouldn't have even managed to put a scratch on him," said Harry, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah right …. From my point of view you would have blown him apart in an instant."

"And why do you think that?" asked Harry, amused.

"Well because I saw you and trust me, the look in your eyes was enough to send anyone turn around and run away with their tails between their legs. When I saw you, it didn't even register in my head that, that was you in front of the headmaster. It was more like some powerful, dangerous wizard was going to assassinate our esteemed headmaster. Even Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were shaken and Weasley almost wet his pants!"

"So what do you see me as now?" Harry asked dryly.

"An insane wizard with too much power who can off Dumbledore with his eyes closed."

Harry laughed, "Yeah well if you notice Dumbledore wasn't fazed at all by my little outburst. Trust me if he wanted to stop me he would have done it in an instant."

"Then why didn't he stop you or was it because he _couldn't_ stop you."

"Blaise!" said Harry exasperatedly. "He didn't stop me because he wanted me to stop myself … or he was waiting for me to _completely_ loose control or …. I think he didn't want to raise his wand against me," said Harry, looking thoughtful. "Yeah that's it! He didn't want to raise his wand against me! He had just told all these things he did to me and he didn't want to look even worse than he already was in my eyes!"

"What are you talking about Harry! And what are these things Dumbledore did to you!"

"Private things between me at the head which I can't tell you," Harry said immediately.

"And why not," huffed Blaise "You think I'll tell everyone?"

"No I don't think you will, I don't want to tell you because it's extremely _personal_ , if you understand what that means."

"Then I'll keep pestering you until you tell me what it is. I can't imagine what Dumbledore must have done to make you loose control, like the way you did."

"If you keep pestering me I'll just memory charm you," said Harry, changing into his pajamas.

"You'll what!" cried Blaise.

"I'll what?" said Harry pretending to be confused. Why did he have to blurt that out!

"Since when do you know how to memory charm a person?" he demanded.

"When did I say I know how to memory charm a person?" said Harry, though not very convincingly.

"Don't pretend you didn't say it or else…." Blaise threatened.

"I don't know what you're talking about… honest!"

"No! I heard you and you clearly said you'll memory charm me if I don't shut up."

"I didn't"

"You did"

"I'm telling you I didn't!"

"And I'm telling you, you did and don't say you didn't again!"

Harry groaned knowing Blaise wouldn't let it go, "Alright I said it…. But I was only joking!"

"Oh no you weren't you let that slip and you're horrible at lying to me when you say something you're not supposed too!"

Harry winced.

"You do know how to cast a memory charm!" cried Blaise.

"Will you stop yelling!" hissed Harry. "Yes I know how to cast a memory charm now shut up and go to sleep."

"I'm not going to stop until you tell me when did you learn how to cast a memory charm and whom did you practice on!"

Harry rubbed his forehead tiredly, Blaise was so persistent sometimes!

"It…. You didn't practice on me did you?" asked Blaise suddenly, looking a little scared.

"If I did then you wouldn't remember, which would mean I did learn how to cast it properly," said Harry slyly, deciding to play with Blaise for a bit.

"Now Harry, you're joking aren't you…. I mean too many memory charms can damage a persons mind….. you really didn't practice on me did you?" he asked Harry nervously, tapping his head, as if trying to see if there was something wrong with his brain.

"Maybe I did cast it on you about twenty times or so," Harry said frowning, "I really don't remember ….."

"HARRY!"

"Relax Blaise, I didn't practice on you," Harry said chuckling. "But I can if you'd let me," he added hopefully.

"No way in hell!" yelled Blaise.

"Awww, damn, you'd make a wonderful scapegoat," said Harry, mock disappointed.

"Very funny Harry, very funny," said Blaise, laughing weakly. "So whom did you practice on anyway?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh come on! You won't tell me what you and Dumbledore talked about, you won't tell me where this secret hideout of yours is, you won't tell me whom did you use for target practice….. You won't tell me anything!"

"And why would I tell you everything?"

"Cause I'm you're best friend," said Blaise, pouting.

"Will you stop pouting like a stupid girl!" said Harry laughing. "Alright, you ask me one question and I'll answer you truthfully."

"Just one?" said Blaise, disappointed.

"Just one. No more, no less."

"Hmmm one question only," muttering Blaise frowning wondering what he should ask. It had to be good or it would be a waste of a question. Should he ask him about what happened with Dumbledore or why does he practice so much or whom does he practice on or what was so cool about his wand that he wouldn't let him touch it.

Slowly minutes passed by and different questions kept flooding his head.

"Will you hurry up! I want to sleep!" said Harry irritably.

"What! It's not my fault you're such a secretive person!"

Harry groaned, "Well just pick a question and ask already!"

"Fine, fine, here's my question. Where do you vanish sometimes during the night and why do you vanish and on whom did you practice you're memory charms and what did you discuss with the headmaster?" he finished with a grin.

Harry raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"Where do I vanish during the nights? I go to a place I found in the castle to practice my elemental ability and various different spells, read books and other various things. It's like my personal study room and you just wasted a question on asking me something you could have figured out on your own…. very Slytherin of you Blaise," Harry said sarcastically.

"You didn't answer the full question!" spluttered Blaise. "There was more to it!"

"Those were different questions. I answered the first and now its time for me to sleep."

"Not fair! I'm sleepy… I wasn't thinking!"

"Not my fault, you should have waited until tomorrow before interrogating me."

"Argh! At least tell me whom did you practice on!"

Harry sighed loudly, "Take a wild guess."

"Err…. Filch?" Blaise said uncertainly.

"Congrats! You win a million galleons for giving the right answer. Now go to sleep and collect your reward tomorrow!"

"You practiced on Filch! Are you crazy! What if you were caught!" said a shell shocked Blaise.

"Blaise!" groaned Harry covering his head with the pillow, "It's almost midnight and I have to deal with the whole school pouncing on me tomorrow!"

"Did it work?" asked Blaise eagerly, ignoring what Harry said.

"Yes, Zabini it worked, now stop acting like a stupid Gryffindor and Go. To. Sleep!"

"Ouch, that cut me real deep Harry, real deep," Blaise said holding his chest and falling back dramatically.

"I should have chosen Crabbe or Goyle as a room mate. At least they never talk," Harry said glaring at Blaise who was playing dead, half his body hanging over his bed. Suddenly he shot up and jumped towards Harry.

"You stay away from me!" cried Harry holding his pillow instead of his wand, "I don't want you to exhibit your animalist tendencies when you're this close to me."

"Shuddap Harry, I just want details," he said rolling his eyes.

"Will you leave me alone if I tell you," Harry said desperately.

Blaise nodded solemnly.

"Okay, at first I practiced on nothing, just reading the theory behind it and casting the charm in the air. Then one night when I was coming back to the common room, hours after curfew, when Filch caught me, I panicked and cast the first charm that came to my head and it was the memory charm. Imagine my surprise when it worked exactly how it should have and Filch forgot what he was doing for the past ten minutes. I meant for him to forget seeing me but he lost his memory of what happened for the past ten minutes. I didn't modify his memories or anything, I just ran after that. No point in staying back and letting him catch me again. After that day I tried memory charming him and modifying his memories and they worked like a charm."

"Wow…. Talk about luck. You're damn lucky you didn't fry his brain not that it's a bad idea," said Blaise, shaking his head in wonder. "No matter how hard you try to stay out of trouble, trouble always finds you."

Harry snorted, "Truer words ever never spoken my friend," he said seriously. A second later they both burst out laughing and another few minutes later Blaise was fast asleep, half his body hanging from the bed.

Harry stared at the still form of Blaise.

"What the hell!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next few days were extremely tense for Harry. The entire school had heard of the attack on Weasley twins and was convinced that Harry was the heir of Slytherin. Just when everybody was beginning to relax two purebloods were attacked and that was enough to send everyone into panic, including the Slytherin's. Malfoy was the only one unconcerned. According to him blood traitors are as bad as mudblood's so they deserved what they got, but that didn't reassure most of the Slytherin's at all.

But it wasn't the fate of the Weasley twins that concerned them; it was the fate of nearly headless nick. What sort of power could harm one that was already dead, they asked each other fearfully.

Surprisingly Harry's stand off with Dumbledore was not known by any other house apart from the Gryffindor's, who were all eyeing Harry wearily. Apparently Dumbledore had visited them before they could leave their common room in the morning and had warned them against talking about it; it was a matter between the headmaster and Harry and wasn't meant to be public knowledge. But that didn't stop them from trying to curse him every time they saw him. Ron, Hermione and Lillian hadn't confronted him yet and he was extremely glad they hadn't because he was sure that if Weasley opened his mouth in front of him, the red head would be spending a long time in the hospital wing.

Soon things got so bad that Harry found himself roaming the corridors under his invisibility cloak, even during the day. He was tired of the way everybody panicked when the saw him, tired of the hisses and the stares he received everywhere he went.

But what vexed him the most was Lockhart. The man had made up his mind that Harry was attacking students for attention. Every class Harry attended, he had to endure Lockhart's speeches on how to gain fame and win the approval of the crowd. Harry was ready to kill the man but Blaise somehow always managed to calm him down. If it weren't for Blaise the defense professor would have been dead ages ago.

Right now the Slytherin's had been to yet another defense class. One in which Lockhart had tried to convince Harry to howl like a wolf, to demonstrate his famed werewolf story but changed his mind when he saw the look on Harry's face.

"Once this year is over I am going to kill that bastard," Harry said with venom in his voice.

"Now, now Harry, I know Lockhart gets to you, but you don't need to go to Azkaban just because he pisses you off," said Blaise.

"He doesn't piss me off, he makes me want to rip his guts out and then stuff them down his throat!"

Blaise winced, "That's just sick," he said. "How on earth do you come up with these things?"

Harry shrugged, "I have a very vivid imagination and that reminds me, I need your help."

"You need _my_ help!" said Blaise incredulously.

"Yeah, I need you to do a spell on me and I need you to do it with immense accuracy."

"What spell?" Blaise asked suspiciously.

"Nothing dangerous if done right," Harry replied nonchalantly.

"If done right?" Blaise said confused, "What in Merlin's name do you want me to do, Harry?"

"Follow me and I'll tell you," said Harry.

Harry led Blaise to an abandoned section of the castle on the sixth floor. Blaise followed Harry quietly, getting more and more confused as to where Harry was leading him.

"Where are we going Harry?"

"My private study."

"You mean the one where you disappear to during the night!" Blaise said a little excitement in his voice.

"That's the one," Harry said dryly and they continued to walk silently.

"How far is this place Harry?"

"Just a little further," replied Harry.

"Where are we anyway?" asked Blaise.

"Other end of the castle. Its been abandoned for years."

"We're here," he said stopping in front of a statue of a mermaid.

"Erm… Harry, I hate to point it out but you're staring at a mermaid, a beautiful one too," he said staring at the statue. To his immense shock and surprise, the statue giggled and said, "Why thank you young man!"

Blaise yelled and backed away and tripped and fell head first into the suit of armor behind him.

Slowly Blaise stood up rubbing his head, gawking at the statue and at Harry in shock.

Harry just looked amused. "Now watch and don't laugh," he said with a note of warning in his voice.

"Don't laugh?" he said, still in shock.

"Yes, don't laugh," Harry said and stood in front of the statue. He then leaned in and lightly kissed the mermaid on the lip.

The mermaid giggled again, "I think I'm in love," she said, looking love stuck.

"Shut up and move," Harry muttered, blushing, not looking at Blaise.

"As you wish my love," she said dramatically and she hopped aside using her tail, revealing an entrance.

"Get in," Harry said looking at Blaise who was watching Harry with his mouth open.

"You… kiss… statue….mermaid…"

"Just get in Blaise," Harry said exasperatedly, pushing him inside. Just as they entered the mermaid jumped back to her place leaving them facing a door. Blaise moved forward to open the door but withdrew his hand immediately. The handle was scalding hot!

"You shouldn't have touched that – there are loads of charms stuffed in that door. Only I can open it," said Harry reaching forward and opening the door. "Welcome to my hide out," he said with a light grin.

For the second time in minutes Blaise's mouth dropped open in shock and awe. The room was huge and was covered in all the house colors. There was a bed in one corner similar to the one in their dorm. In the centre of the room there was a round table covered with papers and books and some weird Muggle quills. In another corner there was a book shelf completely filled with books. There was a small gold trunk under the bed which had Harry's name inscribed on it and in another corner was a pile of galleons. The wall opposite Harry's bed had a huge painting of the Hogwarts crest with a huge window under it with an owl cage hanging next to it.

Harry watched Blaise walk around the room and make his way to the window which overlooked the forbidden forest.

"This is the other end of the castle. All our classes are held in the section that overlooks the Quidditch ground. This part of the castle is practically abandoned," said Harry suddenly startling Blaise.

"Why is it abandoned," Blaise asked curiously.

"The castle is huge," Harry said shrugging, "We barely use half the castle for our purposes. There are a number of secret passages and secret rooms scattered around the castle."

"And pray, please tell me how did you discover this room," Blaise said sniggering.

"I told you not to laugh!" Harry said, annoyed. "It was by accident actually. I tripped on the armor outside and fell on the mermaid. Imagine my shock when she giggles and shows me the entrance to this room."

"So you _accidentally_ kissed a statue of a mermaid? Sounds suspicious," said Blaise with a grin.

"Might I remind you, you are in my domain right now, I could curse you till you won't recognize yourself and then we'll see who has the last laugh," said Harry irritably, though his face was red with embarrassment.

"Okay, okay, relax!" said Blaise hastily. "So what's the deal with the bed?"

"I've spent a lot of nights in this room. It has a bathroom and a store room of sorts."

Blaise looked around; he hadn't spotted any other doors. "Where is it? I see only this room with a window that's all."

Giving a superior smirk Harry walked towards the wall near his bed and walked straight through it. Blaise could only gape in shock at the spot where Harry vanished. Suddenly Harry's head popped out of the wall, "Come on in," he said cheerfully, enjoying the look on Blaise.

Hesitantly Blaise walked in and found himself in a room covered with ice and water. There were puddles of water on the floor and a number of ice pieces sticking out of the walls and huge blocks of ice slowly melting on the floor. There were a number of scorch marks on the wall too.

"This is where I practice. I cast an unbreakable charm on the walls, so I can keep blasting them with different curses and nothing will happen at all," Harry explained.

Beside the door through which they had entered there was another. "That's the door to the bathroom," said Harry.

Nodding Blaise walked in dazed by the place Harry called his private study. Whatever thoughts that were running through his head vanished the moment he stepped into Harry's so called bathroom.

It wasn't like he had just walked into a bathroom, it was like he had just walked into a mini swimming pool, one that was gold and surrounded by a number of taps, each having a different color.

"Bloody hell Harry, what is this place!" he said in wonder.

"I think it belonged to one of the founders, must have been Gryffindor considering the entrance or it's a room where all four met and discussed stuff, considering the coloring of the room.

"Do any of the professors know about this place?"

"No, I asked Ariel outside and she said no one has spoken to her in centuries."

"Ariel! That mermaids got a name!" asked Blaise incredulously.

"Yeah, I was surprised too but then she promised not to let anyone enter except for me if I called her by her name," said Harry. "Anyway come out, I brought you here for a reason, not to admire the bathroom."

"Who wouldn't admire this place," Blaise muttered under his breath.

Once they were back inside, Harry waved his wand and conjured two comfortable chairs.

"Wow when did you learn that!" he said impressed.

"Ages ago," said Harry, not elaborating.

"So how come you decided to bring me to your hidey hole? After all, I've been begging you for ages and you always refused."

"I need you to perform an eye correction charm on me. It's not very complicated and you should be able to do it," said Harry.

"What!"

"An eye sight correction charm Blaise. Honestly haven't you ever heard of it?"

"Nope"

Harry sighed, "Read this," he said picking a piece of paper from the table and passing it to Blaise. "I can't do it on my own and someone else need to cast the charm else it won't work."

" _Pupula Corrigo_?" he asked.

"Yep, you have to aim exactly between my eyes and say the words clearly else you'll damage my eyes and don't remove your wand until I say so."

Blaise looked nervous, "Why can't madam Pomfrey do it?"

"Cause it's not legal," Harry said bluntly.

"Not legal?" asked Blaise raising his eyebrow.

"According to the ministry this is a dark spell," Harry said with a snort.

"And it's not?"

"No it's not, I would have known if it was a dark spell."

"And how would you know that?"

"It comes under one of the many things I can't tell you about."

"Alright then," he said with a sigh and then his eyes lit up mischievously, "Lean back and get ready to have better eyes, for Blaise has a mission to do!" he said dramatically.

Harry looked surprised and irritated at the same time, if that were possible.

"What?"

"I expected you to protest and say you wouldn't do it."

"I was going to but then I realized you would have convinced me somehow if I said no, so there was no point in refusing."

"Nice to know you're using your brain for once," Harry said smirking.

"You better wipe that smirk off you're face, the fate of your eyes are in my hands right now," said Blaise playfully.

"Just do it, and remember…. Don't remove your wand until the light from the wand is completely absorbed by my eyes, get it?" said Harry looking slightly worried.

"Don't worry, I'll do it right. Now lean back," he said rolling his eyes.

Taking a deep breath he leant back and looked straight ahead.

Blaise read the notes Harry had given him once more before carefully placing his wand in between Harry's eyes and said the spell. Slowly a violet light wiggled out of his wand and entered Harry's eyes making him wince in pain. The violet thread like light kept coming out of Blaise's wand for a whole minute. Once they stopped coming out Harry's eyes began to glow and Blaise didn't remove his wand in fear of damaging Harry's eyes.

Another minute later Harry's eye color came back to normal and he stared at Blaise impassively.

"You alright Harry?" asked Blaise, slightly worried that the spell went wrong. "Harry? You okay?"

Slowly Harry's lips curled into a grin and Blaise realized Harry was playing with him.

"Bastard! I thought I did something wrong!" he shouted.

Harry started laughing hard, "I can't believe it, I can see even better without those blasted spectacles!" he said delightedly.

"So it worked?"

"Of course it worked! I can see you can't I?"

"You can see me clearly?"

"I can see you better than I could with my spectacles."

"Now that's done with, what are you going to tell everybody else?"

"I'll tell them I got contact lenses," Harry said grinning widely.

"Contact lenses?"

"It's a Muggle thing, instead of specs you get a small plastic like thing which fits perfectly into your eyes. They're like smaller version of specs but those which can't be seen."

"Muggles come up with the weirdest things," said Blaise shaking his head.

"You'll be surprised at the things they come up with," Harry said dryly, imagining how pureblood wizards would react to televisions, computers and other electronics. "Well come on lets get going, it's almost dinner time."

"What's this Harry?" asked Blaise, picking piece of paper with random lines on it, nothing making any sense at all.

"What?"

"This," he said, handing the paper to Harry.

Glancing at it Harry realized it was the map to the Potter ancestral house. He had been trying to figure out how to read it but had no such luck so far.

"It's a map. I've been trying to figure out how to read it but haven't had any luck so far."

"A map to what?" asked Blaise.

"To a house."

"Who's house?"

"Can you read it?" Harry asked him, ignoring his question.

Blaise took it and examined it. "It's nothing but lines and dots," he said looking at the paper from every angle, waving it around in hopes that it would reveal something.

Harry sighed, disappointed. He was about to take it back, when Blaise yelled in excitement.

"What! What happened?" Harry asked urgently.

"Look! Hold it over the candle," he said excitedly.

Harry did as Blaise said and to his immense surprise a sentence materialized at the corner.

 _The key lies in La Gioconda, one of my greatest works – L.D.V_

Harry and Blaise exchanged perplexed looks.

"What the hell!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Otter…. P…ter… Ha…y …. Harry…. HARRY!"

Harry woke up with a jerk, "wozgoinon…" he mumbled sleepily.

"Mr. Potter this is a class room, not your dormitory," said an outraged transfiguration teacher.

"Mmmm…. abracadabra," Harry muttered, waving his hand over his head, pushing the person near him away.

"Well I never! … Aguamenti!"

A wave of water hit Harry's face jerking him back into awareness of his surroundings. "What the …," he began but his voice died out when he saw Professor McGonagall standing in front of him, looking absolutely livid.

"Oh crap," muttered Harry under his breath, he had fallen asleep in McGonagall's class and everybody knew that was suicide.

"Transfigure this pillow into a goblet Mr. Potter," she said, her voice crisp.

Harry blinked, pillow to goblet? That was child's play. What was the professor thinking?

"Mr. Potter!"

"Oh, yeah," he said, ignoring the glare the professor the sending him.

He waved his wand lazily and the pillow changed to a silver goblet with the Slytherin crest on it.

McGonagall spluttered when she saw him transfigure the pillow into a flawless silver goblet on his first try. In all her years she had never seen anybody so gifted when it came to transfiguration. Just when she was about to award him 50 points Harry had to open his mouth.

"That good enough Professor?" he said sweetly.

McGonagall's lips thinned which was never a good sign. "Detention Potter," she said icily.

"Detention for what!" he cried indignantly, all sleep forgotten.

"For sleeping in class and talking back to a teacher."

"But I transfigured the bloody pillow didn't I?" he said furiously.

McGonagall's expression was stormy…. she felt like strangling Harry but knew that wasn't an option. So instead she decided to change tactics. "Your detention will be at eight with Professor Lockhart, I'm sure he'd adjust his time to have you over," she said smiling and went back to her chair feeling immensely pleased.

"Lo- Lockhart!" spluttered Harry, "No professor, you can't," he began desperately.

"Mr. Potter, practice your transfiguration or I will be forced to take points."

"Take points but not Lockhart professor," he said pleadingly.

McGonagall just raised an eyebrow, "My decision is final Potter," she said and turned her back on him.

Harry's eyes darkened in anger, he was about to give a sarcastic remark when he felt someone pulling him down. It was Malfoy. "Sit down before the hag decides to take points," he said quietly, glaring at the professor.

If Harry was surprised by Malfoy's support he didn't show it. He glanced at Blaise and they communicated silently each knowing what the other was thinking. Malfoy was changing, why they had no clue.

As soon as class ended Harry stormed out, ignoring the calls of the professor. He was closely followed by Blaise and Malfoy.

"What on earth is her problem with me!" he burst as soon as they were a respectable distance from the transfiguration class room.

"Forget her and worry about the Quidditch match Harry," said Malfoy. "We play the Ravenclaw's in another hour. We need our seeker to be in top form or Flint will be hopping mad."

"Oh yeah, that guy has a nasty temper," said Harry shuddering.

"Yeah, I don't think we've had one practice session without him screaming himself hoarse or punching a player," said Draco.

"I don't care about him yelling, but if he ever touches me I'll separate that part of his body and hand to him on a platter with Gryffindor's crest on it."

Draco looked at him incredulously. "You can actually do that!"

"He can and he will," said Blaise.

"Did you get a reply from your dad yet Blaise?" asked Harry, swiftly changing topics.

"About the thing you asked me to ask him about?"

"Yeah."

"Not yet, he's extremely busy but he sent a letter saying he'll do his best and maybe you'll get a reply by the end of the month," said Blaise.

"Hope it doesn't take too long," Harry said sighing.

An hour later two teams walked onto the field to tumultuous applause. Madam Hooch released the bludger's and the snitch and made Flint and the Ravenclaw captain Roger Davis shake hands or rather crush each others hands from Harry's point of view.

Harry was just mounting his broom, ready to launch when professor McGonagall came half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone.

"This match has been cancelled," professor McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were Boos and shouts and the entire Slytherin team looked devastated.

The whole team flew towards McGonagall, "Professor this is the final! You can't just cancel the match!" said a furious Flint.

McGonagall just ignored him and continued yelling through the megaphone, "All students are to make their way to the house common room, where the heads of houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can please!"

"What about the match!" shouted Flint. Harry knew this was a mistake, obviously there had been an attack else there was no reason for the match to be cancelled.

"I assure you Flint, there's a good reason for the match being cancelled. Now head back to your common room before I deduct points," she said sternly. "Mr. Weasley, Ms. Austin," she called through the crowd.

That instant Harry knew who had been attacked. Quietly he flew back to the castle before people started blaming him again. When every Slytherin had gathered in the common room professor Snape came to the common room and announced that there had been a double attack. Granger and a Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater had been attacked in the library.

They were to be back in their common rooms before six o' clock in the evening. They were to be escorted to each lesson by a teacher and they weren't even allowed to go to the bathroom alone.

Harry fumed silently in his place. He wouldn't be able to go to his study in the evenings without the risk of getting caught. Though that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

"Mr. Potter," called Snape startling Harry.

"Yes professor?"

"I am to accompany you to Professor Lockhart's office at eight o' clock. Be ready five minutes prior and I will come and collect you," he said and twirled and left Harry gaping, his robes billowing behind him as he left the common room.

"I can't believe I still have detention after all that happened today," he muttered to himself.

True to his word, Snape was waiting for Harry at the entrance of the common room at five minutes to eight. Harry followed Snape to Lockhart's office silently, knowing he was in for the worst detention ever, all thanks to a stupid cat. Both professor and student never realized that a small red head girl who had a small black diary clutched tightly in her hand was following them.

"Make sure he brings you back before ten Potter," said Snape, before turning around and vanishing in the darkness.

Gritting his teeth Harry knocked on the door which flew open right away.

"Ah, here's my young apprentice!" he said jovially. "Come in, Harry, come in."

Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another large pile lay on his desk.

"You can address the envelopes!" Lockhart told Harry, as though this was a huge treat. "This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her - huge fan of mine -"

The minutes snailed by and Harry let Lockhart's voice wash over him, occasionally saying, "Mmmm" and "Right" and "Yeah." Now and then he caught a phrase like, "Fame's a fickle friend, Harry," or "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that."

The candles burned lower and lower, making the light dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart watching him. Harry moved his aching hand over what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address. It must be nearly time to leave, Harry thought miserably, please let it be nearly time… And then he heard something - something quite apart from the spitting of the dying candles and Lockhart's prattle about his fans.

It was the voice be heard when Mrs. Norris was attacked, the same ice cold venomous voice.

 _"Come ... come to me... look at me….. Let me rip you... Let me tear you... Let me kill you . . . ."_

Harry jumped up, wand in his hand.

"Good gracious Harry! What is the matter!

"That voice did you hear it!"

"What voice?" asked Lockhart looking puzzled.

"That – that voice that said – didn't you hear it?"

Lockhart was looking at Harry in high astonishment. "Now Harry, what are you talking about? You must have been getting a little drowsy? Great Scott! It's almost ten! We've been working hard haven't we Harry," he said, flashing his brilliantly white teeth.

"Yeah, sure professor," Harry said distractedly, he was straining his ears to hear that voice again. Why could he hear the voice and Lockhart couldn't? Did he have better hearing or was Lockhart just pretending not to hear it?

"Well let us go before professor Snape gets worried shall we?" he said and literally dragged Harry out.

Harry followed Lockhart silently, trying to figure out what the voice was or rather who was it? The last time he had heard it a cat was attacked. Whatever it was, Harry was sure it was ready to attack someone. He held his wand tightly in his hand, his eyes darting around to spot anything out of place. Lockhart was babbling something about learning how to charm the ladies but Harry didn't listen to a word he was saying, he just kept his ears open just in case he heard that voice again.

They were on the second floor when Harry felt his wand vibrate and then a harsh voice filled his head.

" _Evil approaches!"_

"What!" yelled Harry, looking around wildly.

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Lockhart, looking absolutely bewildered.

"Hide!" Harry told him roughly.

" _The witch is possessed!"_

"What the hell are you talking about? There's no one here!" Harry hissed under his breath. He carefully scanned the area but didn't stop anybody around.

"Are you trying to impress me Harry?" said Lockhart suddenly, smiling brightly. "I must tell you it's not a good attempt."

"Impress you!" Harry said incredulously, "Have you lost your mind!"

"Now come along Harry, I shall give you tips later but now we must get going!" he said.

"Shut the hell up, whatever has been attacking the students is close, so if you value your life don't move and don't talk! Get it!"

Lockhart looked terrified, "Shouldn't we run!" he squeaked.

"That makes us target practice."

"B-but…"

" _Silencio"_

Lockhart looked outraged and terrified and was trying to break the spell with his wand. In the end he gave up knowing it was no use and hid himself behind a suit of armor. Harry just ignored him and lit his wand and carefully checked his surroundings. It was then he realized he was near the second floor girl's bathroom, the one where the cat was attacked.

" _EVIL APPROACHES!"_ a voice thundered in his head.

Harry stiffened and suddenly he spotted something moving near the entrance of the bathroom.

"Stop! Whoever you are!" he yelled, his wand light falling on a person with long red hair.

" _Evil possesses the witch"_ his wand whispered to him.

Slowly the figure turned around and surveyed Harry tilting her head to the left slightly, her face void of emotion.

"Ginevra!" said Harry, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Harry Potter," she whispered in a voice that wasn't quite her own. "I had hoped we would have met under different circumstances."

Harry narrowed his eyes surveying the girl, his eyes lingering on the small book she held tightly in one hand. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm Ginevra Weasley, Slytherin first year. Have you forgotten?" she said.

"Don't give me that crap; I know she's being possessed by you… whoever you are."

Ginny smiled a twisted sort of smile, which looked oddly placed on the eleven year olds face. She simply raised her wand and whispered, "Avada Kedavra."

Harry froze, but before he could even think about reacting, the deadly green light flashed past him missing him by mere inches.

He heard a thud and slowly turned his head.

Gilderoy Lockhart's body was lying crumpled in a heap on the cold stone floor. His eyes wide open, blank and expressionless, he was dead.

Harry mind went numb. Before he could fully comprehend what had just happened, Ginny spoke again, in that cold voice of hers.

"Weren't you going to stop me Harry," said Ginny, her lips curling into a cruel smile.

Harry was afraid; whoever was possessing Ginny was dangerous. Trying to compose himself and put the image of a dead Lockhart out of his mind, he turned around and faced Ginny.

"Well now that you failed to kill me, mind telling me who you are?" said Harry coolly, his face blank and his heart in turmoil.

"I didn't fail to kill you Potter, I merely disposed the trash first and now it's you're turn. And as for who am I, you'll find out soon enough" said Ginny, sneering. "But first I have a few questions to ask you."

"And why would you want to ask me questions?" said Harry not moving, his wand at the ready.

"I have been wanting to meet you ever since little Ginevra told me all about the defeat of lord Voldemort at your hands," she said, her eyes flashing red for an instant.

"So are some admiring fan of mine? That you want to meet me because I defeated Voldemort? Do you want my autograph?" asked Harry, knowing he must be infuriating the person possessing Ginny.

"Insolent fool, I want to know how did you… a one year old baby manage to defeat the greatest wizard in the history of the wizarding world!"

"And why would I tell you that?"

"Because if you do, I might consider letting you live."

"And what makes you think that you're going to kill me," said Harry scoffing.

Ginny snarled and fired a disarming hex which Harry casually deflected.

"So you have some skill boy, but you will not be able to match the power of lord Voldemort!"

"You're Voldemort? You're possessing Ginny like you did with Quirrell last year?" he said, his heart racing.

Ginny looked confused. "I was here last year? Interesting….. Perhaps you could tell me more…" said Ginny curiously.

Harry was stumped, what was going on? Had Voldemort lost his memory?

"You don't remember me kicking your arse last year?" Harry said smirking.

Ginny looked furious, "What are you talking about?"

"Are you really Voldemort?" asked Harry.

"Of course I am!" hissed Voldemort/Ginny. "I am Lord Voldemort, heir of Slytherin, preserved in a diary for fifty years whose purpose is to kill all the muggleborns and blood traitors in this castle! And you can add yourself to the list!"

"If you preserved yourself in a diary for fifty years then how come you're still around?" asked Harry. He was trying to waste time in hopes of any teacher or Dumbledore coming and catching this monster.

Ginny smiled. "I am a genius, you wouldn't understand anything I told you," Voldemort/Ginny hissed.

"Try me, Mr. Evil genius," said Harry.

"Enough talk, if you won't tell me how you defeated me then it is time for you to meet your end."

Harry tensed, waiting for him to make the first move.

" _Come to me the greatest of Hogwarts four!"_

As soon as he said those words in parseltongue, Harry heard something move in the bathroom and had a great sense of forbidding. Suddenly he saw two big round yellow eyes glaring at him but nothing happened.

Ginny/Voldemort was furious, " _Why are you not dead!"_

" _Should I be dead?"_

Her eyes widened in fury, _"You are a parselmouth!"_

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Harry but Voldemort deflected it.

Voldemort/Ginny's face contorted in fury, "Crucio!"

Harry conjured a block of ice which blocked the incoming curse. Without wasting a second he sent a stunner and another disarming hex back which was easily blocked by the young dark lord. He didn't want to hurt Ginny, he had to find a way to UN-possess her.

"Elemental!" hissed Ginny, a note of fear in her voice.

Harry smirked, "You should know that you don't stand a chance against me."

" _Avada Kedavra!"_

Harry conjured another block of ice which blocked the killing curse. Raising his hands he sent a spike made of ice followed by another huge block of ice which was sure to pulverize anyone in its path. But Voldemort was no slouch either. He blasted the ice pieces to oblivion and made a slashing gesture with Ginny's wand sending a swirling purple vortex towards Harry.

Not fazed in the slightest Harry erected a shield and sent a powerful cutting hex back.

"Not afraid to harm the girl are you," snarled Ginny as she failed to block the curse completely, drawing blood from her arm.

"She means nothing to me and you shouldn't let your guard down," he said, realizing it was futile to hold back in fear of hurting Ginny. It was either her or him and he chose himself over her.

" _Lumos Solarium_!" shouted Harry blinding the dark lord. " _moenia muto funiculus!"_ the moment he said those words the entire wall began to shimmer and ropes started springing out and tied themselves around Ginny firmly, effectively stopping all her moments.

The light slowly died out revealing a very angry dark lord in an eleven year old girl's body and a smug looking Harry Potter.

"For a dark lord in training, I'm surprised all you use are unforgivable's instead of something more… creative," Harry commented.

"Let me go!" she snarled, spit flying from her mouth.

Harry sighed in relief, "Now how do I get Dumbledore down here?"

"No you won't!" hissed Ginny/Voldemort, " _Kill the boy, greatest of Hogwarts four!"_

Harry looked confused, but soon it changed to horror when something huge came streaking out of the bathroom. It was an abnormally huge and as it got closer Harry saw it. It was an acid green serpent with huge round yellow eyes and was heading straight towards Harry.

Harry dived into a corner just as the snake zipped past him. It covered almost the entire length of the corridor and smashed into the wall in front of it demolishing the entire wall and disappearing in the debris.

Shakily Harry came out of his little hiding place. He looked around and saw Lockhart's body lying in one corner of the corridor; the snake must have run over it. Ginny's body was nowhere to be seen. How on earth could a 60 foot snake just vanish he wondered.

" _This is what you will get for standing against me Potter,"_ said a male voice.

Spinning around, Harry saw a translucent boy standing behind him. Ginny was lying beside him with the diary still in her hand. "So that was how Voldemort looked fifty years ago. Have to destroy that diary," he thought, "It must be the source of his power."

But before he could summon the diary, the ceiling broke and the snake came hurtling towards him. Harry lunged to his left missing the snake's fangs by inches, but he wasn't that lucky. The snake's tail came whipping through the air and smashed into him as it broke through the floor, leaving a gaping hole.

Harry went flying and smashed into a suit of armor. Groaning he some how managed to get back to his feet. His back was aching horribly and when he touched his sides he felt something sticking out. He looked to his side and saw a piece of metal jutting out of his abdomen. Blood was beginning to soak through his clothes.

"Shit," Harry cursed weakly looking away.

He could hear the boy's laughter ringing in his head. "You see Potter; you can never match the strength of Lord Voldemort."

Hate bubbling inside him, Harry pocketed his wand.

"Giving up Harry?" said Voldemort junior with sadistic glee.

"No, now you're going to wish you never angered an elemental." The next time that snake showed up, he was going to turn it into an ice statue. On cue the huge snake came slithering towards him from the hole it had made previously in the wall.

Harry raised his hands, the fury evident in his eyes. Just as the snake came barreling towards him, fangs barred, freezing cold water erupted from Harry's hands which could freeze anything in their path.

For 10 seconds there was nothing but water and fog to be seen in the fateful corridor.

Once the air cleared, there was one Harry Potter standing inches away from a half frozen snake, its fangs still showing and tail still moving. "Say goodbye to your pet serpent Voldemort," said Harry grimly drawing his wand.

" _Diffindo!"_ Harry shouted.

"NOOOO!" shrieked Voldemort in fury as the snake shattered, sending huge junks of ice in various directions. "You'll pay Potter!" screamed Voldemort. "Confringo!" he shouted.

Harry threw a piece of the snake in the path of the incoming curse which exploded with the force of a bomb.

 _"Eradico pectus,_ " shouted Harry, but to his shock the curse just passed through the boy.

"You can't harm me Potter! And I will kill you! _Avada Kedavra!"_

Harry dived aside as the green curse came hurtling towards him. " _Destructo,"_ Harry shouted again, but the curse passed through Voldemort like he weren't there and blew up the entire wall behind him covering the body of Gilderoy Lockhart.

Voldemort laughed again, an insane bone chilling laugh. "You best give up Potter, you can't beat me!" he screamed.

"Where the hell are the professors!" Harry wondered. "How could anyone not have heard this," he thought as he dodged another killing curse followed by a black curse, which he identified as the nightmare curse. "How do I kill him!" he thought furiously and then he spotted the black diary, still in the hands of Ginny Weasley.

Harry jumped out of his hiding place and faced Voldemort.

"Given up Potter!" he asked, an insane look in his translucent eyes.

"Goodbye Voldemort junior, time for you to go to hell," Harry yelled and summoned the diary to him. At the same time he sent a frozen fang lying next to him at the diary with a wave of his hand.

Voldemort looked at him in horror. But before he could react the fang pierced the diary.

There was along, dreadful, piercing scream and ink spurted out of the diary in torrents in mid air, flooding the floor. Voldemort was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then - then he was gone.

The diary fell to the floor with a thump. The venom from the snake's fang had burned a sizzling hole through it.

There was silence except for the steady drip of Harry blood falling from the piece of metal stuck in him. There were huge pieces of ice everywhere and parts of the wall and ceiling were still falling apart.

Ignoring his aching side, Harry made his way to Ginny. She looked fine except that she was covered in dust and ice pieces and her face was cut in several places, apart from that she seemed to be alright.

He turned to his side and looked at the piece of metal stuck in his abdomen and wondered what to do. Whether to leave it as it were or pull it out of his body.

He made a rash decision and yanked the metal out. The pain he felt on removing it was terrible. Blood started pouring out faster than ever and his world started spinning and everything turned blurry. He could hear footsteps in the distance. As the footsteps got closer, he felt as if his head was going to be cleaved in two.

He heard a gasp and could vaguely hear someone calling his name. Blinking rapidly he could make out the outline of two or was it four people standing in front of him. He tried fighting the impulse to go to sleep but was failing miserably.

"Took you long enough to get here," he said feebly.

He felt someone kneel down next to him. Desperately trying to stay awake, Harry saw that it was Dumbledore who just began waving his wand over him and Harry then let the darkness engulf him.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – The Entrance**

"Is he going to be alright Poppy?"

"He'll be fine. Although if that metal piece had penetrated further and higher, it would have pierced his liver and I doubt he would have survived that," she said grimly.

"Then it's lucky we got there in time."

"No, we didn't get there in time. He's still suffering from massive blood loss which has effectively shut down his system and he's not going to wake anytime soon."

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"He should regain consciousness by morning and the girl in a few hours."

"She's fine then?"

"Yes, she is. But she's suffering from magical exhaustion and I have no idea how that could have happened, unless she was in an intense duel and that looks like a pretty good explanation to me after looking at the boy and I would have believed that, if she wasn't a first year and him a second year!"

Dumbledore was silent.

"What on earth happened out there Albus! Corridor absolutely destroyed with huge holes in the floor and ceiling!"

"That's not all Poppy," said Dumbledore sighing "We found Lockhart buried under the rubble, dead. And by the looks of it, it seems he was killed by the killing curse."

Madam Pomfrey gasped. "The killing curse! b-but who!"

"That's the every question I want answered," he replied.

"D-do you have any idea who did this?" she began hesitantly.

"I have a few," he said clenching the diary in his pocket tighter, his mind on the remains of the huge basilisk which was now a tea pot, thanks to professor McGonagall and was safely locked up in Severus's personal chamber.

"Where is Professor Lockhart?"

"In Severus's office."

"Why didn't you bring him here?"

"I didn't want to create a panic in case anyone else saw his body," he said quietly.

Dumbledore stood still as Madam Pomfrey checked on her patients.

"Although, I am curious Professor Dumbledore, as to how come you weren't alerted when an unforgivable was used in the castle. I thought the headmaster was always alerted by the wards when an unforgivable or a number of dangerous dark arts spells were used in the castle," said Madam Pomfrey.

"I was alerted but unfortunately the location was not known thus the delay," he said sadly. "But there's nothing we can do about it now. We must wait for Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley to wake and give us the answers we so desperately need."

 ** _5 minutes before Lockhart's death._**

 _The headmaster's office._

"How is the potion coming along Severus?"

"As well as can be expected, give it another day or two and the heir will be caught."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrow, "I thought you said it would take a week or two just during breakfast?"

"I did," he said stiffly.

Dumbledore chuckled, "Potion masters never ever reveal their secrets do they?"

"Are you aware you are going to be sacked Albus?" asked Snape, ignoring the statement.

The twinkle in the headmaster's eyes dimmed, "Yes I am," he said simply. "I imagine you were informed by Lucius Malfoy?"

"Through his beloved son," replied the potions master.

"Well, I imagine the news broke his heart," he said, the twinkle returning in full force.

"Don't joke around Albus! With you gone how in Merlin's name are we going to stop the attacks!"

"I don't know Severus," he replied heavily. "But I am no close to finding out the truth than anyone else. We only have one choice that is to wait for the heir to make a mistake."

"Do you have any idea who it might be!"

"None at all."

"Who opened it last time?" asked Snape.

Dumbledore looked into Snape's eyes and said, "Who do you think?"

Snape stared back. "It cannot be him, Albus, because if your sources are right, he is currently hiding in Albania."

"Exactly and if it is not him, then I have no idea who could it be, for I am certain nobody else is capable of doing what he did."

Suddenly Dumbledore went rigid.

"What is it Albus?"

Dumbledore didn't answer but drew his wand and headed straight for the door. "Wand out and follow me Severus," was all he said.

But suddenly a trill from Fawkes stopped him in his path.

"Fawkes?"

Fawkes flew towards Dumbledore and crooned in his ear.

Dumbledore looked sharply at Fawkes who had flown back to his perch and was gazing at Dumbledore calmly. "You want me to wait!" he said incredulously.

Fawkes let out another trill in confirmation and simply looked at Albus with a knowing glint in his coal black eyes.

 _End flashback._

"Headmaster! The boys coming around!" exclaimed Madam Pomfrey, breaking Dumbledore out of his stupor.

Harry's hands twitched and his eyes half opened before closing again.

"I thought you said he wouldn't wake up until morning," said Dumbledore.

"It depends on how fast the body heals itself and in his case it seems to have recovered really fast," she said.

"Lemme sleep you pig," mumbled Harry.

"Are you awake, Mr. Potter?" asked Dumbledore.

"Screw you," Harry muttered again before burying his face in the pillow.

Suddenly something must have registered in his mind because he shot up and then waves of pain hit him due to the sudden movement causing him to clench his wounded abdomen and he rolled over and fell out of his bed.

"Mr. Potter!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey, hurrying over to Harry and helped him back onto the bed while trying to stuff some potion down his throat.

"Ack… are you trying to choke me women!" said Harry spitting the potion out.

"Those are pain relief potions Mr. Potter. Now will you take them willingly or do I have to stun you," she said irritably.

Harry stared at her and she glared back, a vial in her hand.

"What am I doing here?" he said finally.

"Do not remember what happened Mr. Potter?"

"Headmaster!"

"Drink this Mr. Potter!"

"Add some flavor to it, and then I'll have it willingly," Harry said mutinously.

Suddenly he found his mouth being opened forcefully and a thick horrible tasting liquid being poured into his mouth. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't spit it out and he had no choice but to swallow it.

Dumbledore chuckled.

Harry scowled and Madam Pomfrey smiled victoriously.

"Now that, that is out of the way, may I have a word with Mr. Potter Poppy?" said Dumbledore pleasantly.

"Of course headmaster," she said and walked away but not before throwing a nasty look at Harry who happily returned it.

"Why must you antagonize her Mr. Potter?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling brightly.

"How would you like it if I forced foul smelling and tasting liquids down _your_ throat?" he said, massaging his side unconsciously which did not go unnoticed by Dumbledore.

"I would swallow a lemon drop the next instant," he said and popped a lemon drop into his mouth.

Harry shook his head in disgust.

"Well Mr. Potter, I'm sure you realize I'm not here to discuss how to make potions taste better," he said seriously, the twinkle in his eyes dimming.

"Then why are you here Professor Dumbledore?" retorted Harry.

To Harry's surprise Dumbledore chuckled.

"What's so funny?" he asked, confused.

"Only you Harry… only you have ever contradicted me or questioned me back when I speak in that tone."

"I'm honored," Harry said, dryly "How do the others respond?"

"Well, if it were a teacher I would get a straight forward yes or no and if it were a student he would just lower his or her head and look guilty if they have done something wrong."

Harry just stared back at Dumbledore looking bored wiping the smile of the headmasters face. Sighing Dumbledore leaned closer to Harry.

"What happened tonight Harry?" he said the twinkle now completely gone from his eyes. He looked dead serious.

"Voldemort happened."

"How?" asked Dumbledore looking like he expected it all along.

Harry sighed. "I suppose you would want to hear the grand adventure of the famous Harry Potter from the beginning?"

"Please do begin," he said solemnly.

So Harry told him about the voices he was hearing in the walls, how he caught Ginny lurking around in the second floor corridor and how she in turn, turned out to be possessed by Voldemort who was supposedly preserved in a diary for fifty years. He told the headmaster how Lockhart was killed and how the future dark lord summoned the basilisk and how it tried to kill him. He told him how the sixteen-year-old Voldemort was somehow brought back as a ghost and how he could not cast spells on him but Voldemort could and how in the end destroying the diary somehow killed the ghost Voldemort.

"And then I think I lost consciousness," finished Harry.

Dumbledore was silent for a while, lost in his own thoughts. He knew if he had gone the basilisk stare would have most likely killed him. Had Fawkes known what was going on? On the other hand, was there some other reason he did not want him to go sooner?

"You didn't tell me how you managed to freeze a 60 foot long basilisk?"

"That snake was a basilisk!" exclaimed Harry.

"Yes, you didn't stare into its eyes did you?"

"Yes I did," said Harry "That's why he was surprised when I didn't die when I looked into its eyes."

"And how did you manage to stay alive after staring into a basilisk's eyes?" asked Dumbledore, amazed.

"I think it was because I'm a parselmouth," replied Harry.

"And how did you kill it?"

"Err…. I somehow froze it and then smashed it to bits," he said quickly, a little too quickly.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the horrible lie. "I believe this is the first time I'm sure that you're lying to me," he said casually.

"What makes you think I'm lying?" asked Harry, trying to be equally casual. It didn't work.

Dumbledore sighed. He removed his glasses and wiped them on his robes. "I know you're an elemental, Harry. One who can control water to be precise."

Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes, his face betraying nothing. "I suppose you realized after the little show I put up during the dueling club," he said with a sigh.

"Yes and I also know that Ms. Austin is a fire elemental."

"Hmmm…. Who else knows?"

"Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and myself," replied the headmaster.

"And yet you didn't approach me when you realized what I was and I think you haven't approached Austin either."

"Even if I did figure it out, I didn't want to intrude into your personal space after all that I have done to you and was hoping you'd rather come to me," said Dumbledore, bowing his head.

"We're straying off the topic here," muttered Harry uncomfortably.

"Indeed we are."

"How do you think Voldemort managed to preserve himself in a diary? And speaking of the diary, how on earth did it get into Ginevra's hands and where is it?"

"The diary is with me, Harry and I think you should know that Voldemort's real name isn't Voldemort. It's Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"You're kidding!"

"No I'm not kidding, Harry. He was a model student during his time at Hogwarts, was a prefect, head boy, got perfect scores in all his subjects… no one would have ever suspected him to become the greatest dark lord in the history of wizard kind."

"You taught him?"

"Yes, I was the transfiguration teacher at that time before old Armando Dippet retired and I took got the job of being the headmaster of this school."

"And that was about fifty years ago?"

"How old is Voldemort?" asked Harry stunned. Voldemort being over 50 years old was the only thought that had registered in his mind.

"Old age has nothing to do with knowledge and power Harry. As a matter of fact, the older you get, the stronger your magic becomes," countered Dumbledore, smiling.

"So, Erm…. What's the condition of the corridor?"

"The basilisk and Professor Lockhart have been moved and Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall are currently working on fixing the corridor. There will be no lasting damage to the students petrified and Professor Snape has informed me that the Mandrake draught will be ready soon and we can hopefully revive the students before lunch tomorrow."

"That's… good. What about Ginevra? Do you plan on telling her she was the one attacking the students if she doesn't remember what she was up to?"

"Ms. Weasley is not responsible for anything Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore sharply. "She was hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort like many before her."

"Sure, sure, but she's still going to blame herself. Most likely have nightmares and become even more withdrawn than she already is."

Dumbledore sighed, "I will talk to her and convince her that this wasn't her fault."

"I'm sure you will."

"And perhaps you will be kind enough to become her friend and help her cope up and recover from this terrible experience she has gone through," he said, with a small smile.

Harry snorted, "If you think I'm going to let a girl cry and sob on my shoulder, you must be absolutely retarded."

"Now Harry, there's no need to be rude. She needs a friend and I'm sure if she was being possessed by lord Voldemort, she hasn't made any."

"Then she'll have to make them on her own," he said simply. "Maybe you can announce tomorrow that she battled Voldemort in her head and won thus stopping the attacks once and for all or something like that, leave me out of it. I'm sure she'll make lots of friends then."

"You do not want any credit Harry?"

"Sure I do, but I prefer it to be unlimited access to the restricted section and perhaps license to hex any Gryffindor I want and get away with it!. But I don't want anyone else to know what I did, including the Weasley girl. I have enough attention already."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Might I inquire to why you what unlimited access to the restricted section?"

"So I can infuriate Granger whenever she visits the library," Harry replied promptly.

Dumbledore blinked.

"I see…. Any other reason?" he asked slowly.

"Nope, that's it."

"Very well, I shall talk to Madam Pince and I think Slytherin house should get 100 points for bravery and courage."

"I prefer to say for getting rid of Lockhart, but then it'd be insulting to his memory so bravery and courage it is," said Harry, smirking. "It was a joke, professor," added Harry hastily, seeing the grave look on Dumbledore's face.

"I shall take my leave Mr. Potter. You get some rest as I have to talk to Ms. Weasley's parents," said the headmaster.

"They're here?" asked Harry.

"Not yet, I believe they shall be here in the morning. I have to inform them about Ms. Weasley's condition and put their anxiety to ease."

"You do that," muttered Harry, "Just leave my name out of it."

"Good night Mr. Potter."

"Whatever..."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next day Harry woke to loud chatter. If Blaise was singing in the bathroom again he was going to vanish his balls, Harry thought viciously before last nights memories came rushing back and he realized he was in the hospital wing.

Wondering what all the noise was, he poked his head out of the curtains and saw a herd of red heads around Ginevra's bed. He checked his abdomen and saw there wasn't even a scratch left and he felt no pain at all. Nodding to himself he changed into his school robes and decided to head back to his common room.

"Where do you think you're going Mr. Potter," came the sharp voice of madam Pomfrey.

Wincing Harry turned around to face the matron, "Back to my common room madam Pomfrey," he said sweetly.

Pomfrey scowled, "Did I give you permission to leave," she said angrily.

"I feel fine," protested Harry, "The scars gone, the pains gone, what more do you want?"

The Weasley's sniggered behind his back.

"I'll be the judge of that," she said and waved her wand over Harry. She waved it once, twice and then sighed. "Very well, you may leave and I pray I do not see you in here again."

"Me too. This place stinks."

"Figuratively," he said quickly seeing the look on her face.

Madam Pomfrey just glared at him and walked of to her office in a huff.

As soon as she was out of hearing distance the Weasley's burst out laughing.

"So Potter, I guess you'll be leaving tonight," said Ron making Harry stop in his path.

"What are you talking about carrot top?" he asked, puzzled.

"We know you're the heir Potter," said Fred Weasley.

"Yeah, we were petrified while we were following you," added George Weasley.

"You're awake," Harry said simply to the Weasley twins.

"Yup, madam Pomfrey gave all the students the mandrake draught this morning," said Ron smugly. "And our parents are talking to professor Dumbledore right now."

"Oh, they are, are they," said Harry, looking highly amused "Well then you better say farewell to your sister. After all it would be a shame to let the heiress of Slytherin remain in the school after what she's done," he said and walked out leaving three shell shocked Weasley's in the hospital wing.

"W-what did he mean by that Fred?" asked George, looking at his twin.

"I don't know, but I hope it isn't what I think it is."

.

.

.

"Did he just mean Ginny is the heir of _Slytherin_!" spluttered Ron.

Fred and George rolled their eyes, "You catch on real quick Ronnikins," said George sarcastically.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry walked towards the second floor corridor chuckling. "Those Weasley's are really retarded," he said to himself, as he made his way to the bathroom he saw the serpent come out from.

"Out of order huh, wonder why," Harry said to himself reading the sign on the door as he made his way in.

It was a rather gloomy looking bathroom, no different than the boy's bathroom except for the huge mirror on the wall. "Guess girls like staring at themselves," he muttered. "Now where did that serpent come out from?" he said looking around for clues to the entrance of the chamber of secrets.

"This is a girl's bathroom you know," came an extremely girlish voice from behind him.

Harry turned around sharply, his heart thumping hard against his chest. "Just a ghost," he said, the relief evident in his voice. He didn't want to be caught snooping around in a _girls_ bathroom!

The ghost in question sniffed, "I have a name you know!" she said sounding extremely offended.

"Cool, so what it is?" Harry asked absently while pressing and tapping the wall.

"Myrtle"

"Wonderful, I'm Harry."

"Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Yes and how does a ghost know my name?" he said while looking under the sink.

"Oh Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger use to keep talking about you even they were in here. About how _evil_ and _bad_ you are!" she said dramatically.

Harry stopped whatever he was doing and stared at Myrtle who smiled back sweetly now that she had caught his attention. "Weasley and Granger came in here together and alone?" asked Harry, a grin playing on his lips.

"Oh no, it's not what you think!" she said, seeing the grin on his lip. "They were making a potion and even Mary Austin was with them."

"They were making a potion? In a girl's bathroom? What potion?"

"I think it was to change themselves into different people but something went wrong and that Granger girl sprouted whiskers and a tail!" she said, laughing in delight.

"Change into other people?" muttered Harry, "She doesn't mean polyjuice potion does she? Myrtle, did you see them change into different people?"

"Oh yes! They changed into two ugly looking boys who resemble gorillas!" she said giggling.

Harry frowned… and then his eyes widened in dawning comprehension, "Crabbe and Goyle! Christmas! Did this happen on Christmas myrtle!" he asked her hurriedly.

"Hmmm… it was the day Peeves was teasing me about my glasses," she said, her eyes misting.

"I think your glasses look wonderful myrtle," Harry said quickly.

Myrtle looked at Harry in wonder and slowly silvery tears started leaking out of her eyes. "Nobody's ever told me that," she said, her voice trembling.

"Err…. Myrtle… did they change into other people on Christmas?" Harry asked hesitantly, trying to be nice.

"Eh yes, it was Christmas," she said vaguely and zoomed out of the bathroom.

"Unbelievable," murmured Harry, before his lips twitched upwards. "This is great black mail material," he thought as he began to look around for places where a snake could come out of. Then he struck gold, he spotted a small black snake carved behind one of the taps. "Bingo," he muttered and began pressing the snake and the area around it, searching for some secret lever.

After five minutes of pushing, pulling and pressing he smacked his forehead. "This is Slytherin's secret chamber! Obviously you'll have to speak in Parseltongue to open it!" he said loudly.

Taking a deep breath, he pictured a snake in his head and hissed, " _open."_

The moment he uttered those words, the tap started spinning rapidly and then suddenly the whole sink, sank into the wall revealing a pipe big enough for 3 people to fit it.

"Perfect for a sixty foot serpent," thought Harry as he peered inside. The pipe was dark, slimy and smelly. Harry wondered if this was how Slytherin traveled to and fro from his chamber. "If I go in then how on earth do I come out?"

"Here's an idea," he said to himself and then hissed, " _stairs,"_ but nothing happened. Sighing Harry gave the command for the entrance to close and decided to come back later. After all he was the only parselmouth in the school and there was no hurry to get into the chamber. He'd take Slytherin's ring when he'd go in, it might come in handy.

Fate must have had it in for him today for he ran into the one person he didn't want to meet the moment he stepped out.

"What you doing in a girl's bathroom Potter?"

"Why? Why her of all the people I could bump into! Why her?" he thought exasperatedly.

"You didn't answer Potter," said Hermione.

"Well, well, well, looks like little miss know it all is out of the hospital wing. How come you're without your third tag along what's his name…..? Roonil, Ramzey… _carrot top!_ That's the one…" he said triumphantly.

"Such wonderful language… your parents would be proud," said Lillian rolling her eyes.

"Thanks Freckles, but unfortunately my parents aren't bound to this world no more or have you forgotten?"

Lillian reddened in embarrassment.

"You didn't tell us what you were doing in a _girl's_ toilet Potter," snapped Hermione. "I think we have a right to know!"

Harry laughed, "You have a _right_ to know! And what makes you think that?"

"Mainly because it's a girl's toilet," said Hermione stiffly.

Harry laughed again, "Alright Granger, I'll tell you what I was doing in there," he said.

"You will?" asked Lillian surprised.

"I was chatting with Myrtle. She has the most amazing stories to tell. She was just telling me one about how someone turned into a _cat_ hybrid of some kind after drinking a potion," he said looking at Hermione, "And she also said something about some guy and girl changing into ugly troll looking boys and sneaking around the school. Now you wouldn't know anything about that now would you?" he said with a predatory grin.

Both girls stared at him in horror.

"Now you keep shut about me being in there and I will be kind enough not to let the teachers know about your little adventure in the Slytherin common room…. Do we have a deal?"

"You can't prove it," said Hermione.

"Does madam Pomfrey know how you turned into a cat? Or how on earth does carrot top know I'm a Parseltongue when only 4 Slytherin's are supposed to know. And I'm sure Crabbe and Goyle do not remember being in the common room after breakfast at all…. Do you want me to continue?"

They shook their heads rapidly.

"Good, because if you do anything that annoys me, Professor Snape might just catch the person responsible for stealing from his most private potions cupboard. Have a nice day, Ms. Austin, Ms. Granger," he said and bowed mockingly and then walked away with a satisfied smirk in place. The day was turning out to be good after all!

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was the last day of school and exams had been canceled as a school treat.

The school had been told that the spirit of Lord Voldemort had been attacking the students and had tried to possess Ginny Weasley but failed to do so due to the strength and will power of the girls desire not to harm her friends. She had been welcomed back with open arms by her brothers after that piece of news.

"Pieces of shit," thought Harry.

There was a quiet one minute silence in memory of Professor Lockhart, during which half the female population shed tears enough to flood the entire great hall. The Slytherin's were fighting to keep the smiles off their faces and toasted to a great after life for the professor.

Finally it was time to leave and Harry, Blaise, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis were sharing a compartment.

"Pretty eventful year wasn't it," commented Tracey.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it when Dumbledore announced that you know who's spirit was possessing Weasley!" said Daphne.

"I can believe that… what _I_ can't believe is that she fought him off and won! What do you think Harry? You think she actually managed to push him out of her body or whatever it is she did to get un-possessed," Tracey asked Harry.

Harry looked up startled, "What?"

"I said, do you actually believe Weasley managed to banish you know who's spirit from her body?"

"Maybe," said Harry.

"What do you mean maybe?"

"I mean she might have fought against his control over her and then Dumbledore must have arrived on the scene and done something to help her."

"Yeah, that makes sense," muttered Daphne. "What do you think happened to her? You think she's going to be alright?"

"Why Daphne, you concerned about a Weasley?" said Harry smirking.

"A Weasley who is a Slytherin," she shot back, "And all Slytherin's are supposed to look out for each other."

"Well then you should help her out next year shouldn't you?" said Blaise, idly flicking though the weekly Quidditch magazine.

"Yeah, we should," said Tracey. "We all pretty much ignored her this year because she was a Weasley."

"Let's hope she isn't like the rest of those Gryffindor morons," muttered Harry. "Cause if she is, she ain't going to survive."

"She's one of us," said Daphne confidently.

"What makes you think that?" said Blaise, raising his eyebrow.

"I saw her cursing her brothers after they tried to apologize to her. I also heard her yell that she's a Slytherin so they better deal with it and not try and not ask Dumbledore to put her in Gryffindor," she said with a grin.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "She's going to fit in real well then."

"Yeah she is," agreed Tracey.

"I can't wait for next term to start," said Blaise suddenly.

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Hogsmeade!" he said with a delighted grin.

"Ohh yeah!" said the girls excitedly. "We get to visit Gladerag's and have butter beer!"

"And have fire whiskey and visit the Quidditch store!" added Blaise.

"Fire whiskey! What makes you think madam Rosmerta will let you have Fire whiskey!" said Daphne appalled.

"Who said I'll buy it from the Three Broomsticks," he said with a smirk.

Tracey scowled, "You'd go to Hogshead alone?"

"Who said I'd be alone. I'll have Harry with me!"

"Harry? What can _he_ do against those creepy people in there," demanded Daphne.

"Trust me, one look at his scar and they'd be offering me drinks on the house," he said happily.

"And what makes you think I'm going to accompany you?" said Harry finally.

Blaise blanched. "Oh come on Harry! I know you want to try Fire whiskey! _And_ you owe me a favor for doing you know what," he finished with a victorious grin.

"I hate it when I owe favors to people," said Harry irritably.

"But you love it when people owe _you_ favors," said Blaise.

"Of course," said Harry. "That's the way it's supposed to be!"

"Jackass," muttered Blaise.

"You know if you go into Hogshead, someone might kidnap you and hold you for a ransom or something," said Daphne seriously.

Harry and Blaise exchanged a glance before bursting out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Tracey, bewildered. "She's serious!"

But Blaise just shook his head and both boys continued to laugh.

"Honestly! Come on! Let us in on the joke too!" said Daphne indignantly.

"N-no joke!" said Blaise gasping.

"Yeah, just forgot it," said Harry, still chuckling.

"Boys," muttered Daphne.

"Anyway, Blaise, did you get a reply from your dad yet?" asked Harry.

"No, not yet. Looks like I'll have to check it out myself," said Blaise sighing.

"What. In Merlin's name are you both talking about?" said Tracey.

"Secret stuff," said Harry and Blaise together.

"You two have too many secrets you know?" said Daphne, sounding annoyed.

"And you're too nosy," shot back Harry.

Both girls glared at him.

"Don't mind Harry girls. He thinks being all secretive makes him look cool," said Blaise grinning.

"No I don't," retorted Harry. "Don't listen to this idiot over here," he said jerking his thumb towards his roommate. "I don't have any secrets."

Daphne and Tracey snorted. "Yeah right," they said together. "But don't worry," added Daphne. "We'll find out what they are soon enough."

"You can try," muttered Harry under his breath.

The four lapsed into silence and the journey was fairly uneventful after that.

Harry was busy planning how to get the Dursley's to sign his Hogsmeade form but little did he know how eventful and dangerous his summer was going to be. Things were about to change in the Dursley household!


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Sirius Black**

"Now you listen to me boy and you listen well! I have put up with your freakishness for long enough and I do not want you to use your hocus pocus under my roof and foul my house!"

"You don't like it Uncle Vernon?" said Harry sounding crestfallen. "You should take off your shoes and feel how the rug feels on your feet. It's like walking on drops of heaven! And what's best is you don't have to pay a penny!" exclaimed Harry.

Harry had remodeled his room and was thoroughly enjoying winding up his uncle.

Vernon's face turned blue, "I don't care!" he hissed, "We gave this room to you to stay in. _Not_ to practice your unnaturalness!"

"Now come on uncle Vernon, you're not jealous that my room looks better than the rest of the house are you?"

Vernon clenched his fists.

"I could refurnish the entire house you, you know. All it would take is a wave of my wand," he said, summoning his wand.

Vernon's face turned purple and he looked like he wanted to punch something real bad. "Keep your god damn room the way you want it," he ground out finally. "Just stay away from my family," he said and stomped out of Harry's room.

"Fat arse," muttered Harry as the door banged shut. He turned back to admire his work, he had transfigured his tiny table into a much bigger one with an oak finish and it five drawers to its left and a small cupboard with an extendable charm to its right. The chair looked simple enough but the cushioning charm on it made it feel wonderful!

His bed now resembled the bed in his school, the floor was covered with a soft maroon carpet and he had conjured an entire book shelf which was magically enlarged to fit all his books. The books and the shelf had been charmed to be fire and water proof in case Dudley had any ideas, but then that wasn't necessary since he had put up a ward that would not allow anyone to enter the room without his permission. Learning how to put up wards had taken him a month of practice in Hogwarts before he could cast them flawlessly. Hedwig's cage was enlarged and was big enough for her to comfortably stretch her wings and his bathroom now sported a small Jacuzzi instead of a bathtub and Harry enjoyed the feel of it every single day.

The thing he was having difficulty with at the moment was being able to cast an extendable charm on his entire room, strong and stable enough to make space for another room where he could practice his magic in, but then, he couldn't have everything could he? He'd have to practice in his room for the time being until he came up with a better alternative.

For once his summer was going the way he wanted it. Speaking of the summer, he remembered the promise he had made to a house elf called Dobby. He felt a little guilty for not even attempting to find out more about the elf but didn't dwell on it. If he ever got a chance, he would free the elf in a heart beat.

He opened his cupboard and eyed the clothes inside with disgust. Everything was faded and three sizes too large for him. Even his undergarments were once Dudley's. Just the thought of wearing Dudley's clothes made him feel like throwing up.

"Well, maybe it's time I did a little shopping of my own," he muttered. He summoned all the clothes belonging to Dudley and threw them out of the window leaving behind the few clothes that actually fitted him which consisted of one jean and two shirts which belonged to Dudley when he was eight.

"Dinner!" came the shrill voice of aunt Petunia.

Harry sighed and glanced back at his now empty cupboard. "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow Hedwig," he said to the owl who was watching Harry curiously. Casting another admiring look at his new room he went downstairs.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The Dursley's and Harry were eating their dinner quietly when Vernon cleared his throat. All of them knew it was a signal for them to stop eating and listen but Harry continued to eat his pasta.

Vernon cleared his throat again, this time louder.

Harry sighed and lowered his fork. "Yes?"

"I received a letter from Marge today."

Harry knew this was going to be bad news.

"She's coming to visit in three days time."

Harry groaned.

"She'll be staying with us for a week and she'll be bringing her dog with her," said Vernon raising his voice and glaring at Harry.

This time Petunia winced. She hated dogs.

"And she thinks _you,_ boy, attend St. Brutus school, for incurable criminal children," he said with a nasty smile.

"What!" shouted Harry rising to his feet furiously.

"Sit down," snapped Vernon. "You will bloody well stick to that story or you will find yourself on the roads!"

"I'll bloody well be on the roads than stick to that story!" he spat.

"BOY! YOU WILL STICK TO THAT STORY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!"

"What are you going to do if don't Vernon," said Harry coldly, summoning his wand.

Vernon paled at the sight of the wand. "Now listen up Potter," he said nervously. "You know we can't tell her about you don't you?"

"Oh I certainly don't uncle Vernon, but she's _family_ after all isn't she?"

"Boy…." said Vernon, his voice trembling in anger.

" _But_ I could stick to your story if you do something for me," he said slowly, remembering the Hogsmeade form be needed the Dursley's to sign.

And what is that?" asked uncle Vernon, narrowing his eyes.

"I need a form signed, to visit the village next to our school and I need the signature of my guardian which to my great regret is you. So you sign my form and I'll be a good criminal in your house."

"You will not do any magic in the house and will you get rid of your ruddy bird?"

"I will not do magic in front of her eyes, but I won't be getting rid of Hedwig and my room stays as it is. You will just have to keep her out of it."

"Boy!" said uncle Vernon threateningly.

"You know you can't to anything to me so drop the act uncle," said Harry.

There was silence for a minute in which Vernon looked like he was doing some furious thinking and Petunia and Dudley were looking fearfully at Harry while Harry was calmly staring at Vernon waiting for an answer.

"Alright."

"What was that uncle?"

"I said fine, you stay away from Marge and make sure she doesn't even get a sniff of your unnaturalness and I'll sign your form _after_ she has gone."

Harry glared at uncle Vernon. "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut, let her chatter like a monkey and make sure she knows nothing about me and the rest of you will keep her away from me and make sure she doesn't say anything that causes me to loose my temper _and_ after she leaves you will sign my form. Do we have a deal?"

"Go back to your room and don't bother us," said Petunia suddenly, making herself known.

Harry smiled, "I'll take that as a yes," he said and left the table. "Oh and by the way," he said suddenly as he neared the stairs "I'll need a lift to London tomorrow, I have a little bit of shopping to do."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry was lost. He had finally found something he had no clue off and was horrible at it, it was shopping for clothes!

He had absolutely no idea what he wanted and was roaming around the store for the past hour wondering what on earth he should buy.

"Hey kid, need help!" said one of the sales girls coming up to him.

"Err… yeah. I need to buy clothes…."

"That would be obvious seeing this is a clothes store wouldn't it?" she said with a laugh.

"Whatever, I need to refill my wardrobe but I don't want anything too fancy though."

"Hmmm… your parents not with you kid?"

"No, and don't call me kid."

"Whatever you say handsome," she said, winking at him. "Follow me."

Harry followed her to the changing rooms.

"Alright," she said and took out her measuring tape and checked his waist, chest and height. "Okay, you wait here while I pick out some cool stuff for you," she said jovially and walked away, her blonde hair swigging behind her.

Harry sighed and looked around. There were men and women constantly entering and exiting from the changing rooms. Some ladies carried arm full of clothes into the rooms and wouldn't come out for ages. There were sales boys and girls hurrying everywhere, folding the clothes removed by the customers. There were some high school boys trying to flirt with one of the sales girls and there were two women arguing over a skirt they both wanted to buy. The manager of the store was desperately trying to pacify them but they continued to screech at each other and kept tugging skirt towards each other. Harry was sure it would tear any second.

Finally his blonde sales girl came back, her arms laden with clothes.

Harry's eyes widened at the amount of clothes she had brought with her. "I don't need so many clothes!" he said incredulously.

"I know! Now we just have to make you try on each one and see which suits you the best!"

"No! You just choose what you think is best and I'll pay for them!"

"Awww come on! How will we make the girls fall for you if we don't choice what looks perfect on you!"

"Listen Blondie, all I want are clothes so that I don't have to roam around naked on the streets! So just pick!"

"Kid, at least try out a few! It'll be fun. Like check out this green hoodie. It brings out the color of your eyes and it can go with this, this and this!" she said, showing him three different jeans. "Then we an Arsenal jersey and then a gray track suit and so many T-shirts! Come on, it'll hardly take much time and then you have to see which kind of jean you find most comfortable or if you prefer cargo's over jeans and then there are these jackets and I got some cute designer wear undies too which will feel _really_ comfortable or so I'm told!"

"Ok, ok, ok! I'll try out a few clothes!" he said loudly, to make her shut up before she embarrassed him more. "Just shut it please!"

"Great!" she said looking pleased. "Let's start with this _aannndd_ this."

Harry snatched the clothes she had given him and walked towards a changing room sullenly. He couldn't believe he was being forced to model for some dumb irritating blonde.

He didn't notice a girl enter the changing room he was heading to. Unknowingly he used magic to open the door and entered.

"EEEEkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk," came a loud shriek from inside and Harry came rushing out, his face bright red.

The girl came stomping out a minute later and screamed, "PERVERT!" causing a crowd to gather.

"Me? A pervert! You left the door unlocked!"

"I did not!"

"Did too, if not then how did it open!"

"I locked it and I'm sure of it!" she yelled back.

Both were red in the face and then they recognized each other.

"YOU!" they both said at the same time.

"Huh, you both know each other?" asked the blonde girl.

"Unfortunately," muttered Harry, glaring at her.

Slowly the crowd dispersed muttering and laughing.

"You… you…" said Lillian, words failing her.

"Me what?"

"What the hell are you doing here anyway!" she spat. "Can't you see that is a girls changing room!"

Harry glanced up and sure enough, there was a ladies sign above the room. "I didn't see that and you should be locking the door before you decide to strip! My eyes are still hurting from that horrific sight!"

"Just you wait," she said, breathing heavily, "I'll get you back in school!"

"You two look _sooo_ cute together!" said Blondie suddenly making the young witch and wizard glare at the sales girl.

"Hey," she said nervously, "Just expressing my views!"

"Keep them to yourself!" spat Lillian and stomped back to the changing room slamming the door as she went in.

"Bitch," muttered Harry under his breath.

Blondie sighed, "Young love," she said dreamily. "You two are made for each other!"

Harry stared at her, "You should _really_ change your hair color."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

At half past seven, Harry made his way to number four Privet drive and rang the bell looking absolutely dead on his feet.

The door was opened and Harry was yanked in.

"Where were you!" said Aunt Petunia "You were supposed to be back by 4!"

"I lied," said Harry simply.

"Well get in and change! Marge will be here in half an hour!"

"WHAT!" yelped Harry.

"Yes, now go and freshen up! You better look respectable or you're not getting any dinner."

"If that's your threat, then I'm not coming down. I've had a good meal outside and I'm in no need for your pathetic food. Good night," he said and went to his room and was asleep as soon as he crashed on his bed.

This had been one of the worst days ever. Getting tortured by a blonde terror, seeing Freckles strip, then almost getting hit in the nuts by her on his way out, getting lost on the streets of London and then finally summoning the knight bus and heading back for Privet drive, his prison. And added to that, he was going to have to handle insults from Aunt Marge and he couldn't do a thing about it if he wanted to be able to visit Hogsmeade.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Four days had passed since Marge had arrived and Harry was at the edge of loosing his temper. Both his aunt and uncle were aware of that fact and were doing there best to keep Marge away from Harry, but Marge wouldn't miss a chance to pick on him and compare him to Dudley and she kept pointing out his short comings in life and how he didn't deserve to live in such a beautiful house.

All Harry wanted to do was pick her dog and shove it up her big arse.

"Did I ever tell you about the Keating incident Petunia!" said Marge, taking a deep sip from her glass of brandy.

Dudley was listening to all the scandals and stories with interest, while Harry looked bored to death and was thinking about different curses he could use on the Dursley's.

"No you didn't Marge," said Petunia, her glass of brandy lying as it were at the start of their meal.

"Well it happened about three months ago. Mr. Keating was having an affair with the neighbor Mrs. Ranger."

"An affair," exclaimed Petunia.

"That's right, Mrs. Keating ran a business and was usually out of town for a week or so and she was a terrible bore," said Marge.

"Then one night, Mr. Keating invited Mrs. Ranger over for drinks as Mrs. Keating was out of town. That was about seven months ago. Ever since that night every time Mrs. Keating was out of town either Mr. Keating would go over to Ranger's house or she use to head to his house. Now none of the neighbors failed to notice their meeting every time Rose was out of town.

At first everyone thought they were just good friends but then one day Mrs. Parker saw them kissing at the door step and Mr. Keating pulled Jennifer inside and slammed the door shut!" she whispered. Petunia gasped and Vernon clucked shaking his head in disgust.

"Mrs. Parker told Rose what she saw but Rose didn't believe her husband could be capable of such treachery. But Mrs. Parker continued to insist and told her how Jennifer visits her husband when she was out of town."

"So one night," she said softly, leaning in, "She told him that she was leaving for a week and hid in a cupboard under the stairs. Then to her shock and horror, she saw Jennifer and her husband glued to the lip with a bottle of wine in her hand!"

Petunia covered her mouth, her eyes wide open.

"Poor Rose lost her mind, she took a knife and crept upstairs and found them in bed! She took the knife and stabbed her husband not once, not twice but eight times! Jennifer began to scream and that roused the neighbors who hurried over. But it was too late; Rose had stabbed Jenny too and was standing over their bodies, panting heavily, her hands, her face, her clothes, all covered in blood!"

"Did Jenny die?" whispered Petunia.

"No, she survived, but Rose went insane. She couldn't handle the betrayal of her husband and she's now rotting in a mental hospital. Jennifer moved to her parents place and has been living with them ever since."

"What about Jennifer's husband?" grunted Vernon.

"He died years ago. Was the victim of a hit and run incident."

"Hmmm, it's a shame, to cheat on your wife with a widow," said Vernon.

Marge laughed, "Oh, don't blame Keating. Rose was a terrible bore and I'm sure he never got any _action_ from her!"

All three Dursley's began to laugh.

"Oh by the way Marge, did you hear about that escaped prisoner?" asked Vernon.

"Of course I did! Was and still is big news right? He escaped from a high security prison, killing nine guards with his bare hands to make his escape!"

"That's right," he said "Posters plastered all over the place and there's reward out for his capture too."

"Really! How much?"

"5000 pounds."

"5000 pounds!" yelped Dudley.

"That's right Dudders," said Vernon chuckling. "You don't fancy yourself capturing him do you? Though, he wouldn't stand a chance if he came up against you!"

"That's right dad! I'll give the old upper cut and he'll be out before he hits the ground," he said grinning.

"What was his name Vernon?" asked Petunia.

"Black," said Vernon "Sirius Black."

Harry dropped his fork, attracting all the Dursley's attention.

"What's the matter boy," said Marge "The name familiar to you? Your idol is he or famous at your school is he? What school does he go to Vernon?"

"St. Brutus School for incurable criminals," he said, looking at Harry nervously.

"That's right," spat Marge, "Goes to a no good school for pathetic losers like you and you dead family. Or was your father, that Potter in league with Black when he was alive?" she continued, not noticing the growing anger and hatred on Harry's face.

"How did they die Vernon?"

"Car crash," he said in a small voice.

"That's right!" she boomed, "Must have been drinking and driving!"

"More brandy Marge!" said Vernon loudly "Boy go upstairs."

"No, no Vernon, the boy should hear the truth about his parents. How his father was a drunk and a criminal and his mother, well she must have been a whore!" she said, sneering at him.

"Enough," said Harry suddenly, his voice trembling in fury.

"Boy upstairs now!" said Vernon panicking.

"Leave it Vernon. Proud of your parents are you? You should be lucky that…." But she couldn't finish. She was suddenly blown of her feet with so much intensity that she slammed into the wall behind her making it crack. She slid down unconscious leaving a trail of blood behind her.

"Marge!" screamed Petunia.

"Boy!" bellowed Vernon. "You've done it now!"

"Shut your bloody mouth," said Harry coldly "She deserved what she got and you'll be next if you don't get out of my way."

But Vernon was blinded by anger. With a roar he leaped at Harry and Harry blasted him out of his way with a wave of his hand and Vernon went crashing into the television set.

Breathing hard Harry looked around at the damage he had caused and knew he could no longer call this place his home. He barely noticed aunt Petunia and Dudley scamper out of the room.

He drew his wand and summoned his belongings down and with another twirl they all neatly arranged themselves inside his trunk. He pulled out his invisibility cloak and shrunk his trunk.

He turned around to say something to his aunt when there was a loud bang and a sharp pain in his left shoulder.

He looked at Petunia and was shocked to see a gun in her hand. There was trail of smoke coming out from its tip. He slowly moved his right hand to his shoulder and felt something sticky. Turning his head, he saw his shirt slowly turn red.

"F-fix them," she said, her hands trembling and Dudley was cowering behind her.

"You… you shot me!" said Harry in shock and pain.

"Fix them and make them f-forget or I'll shoot again," she said again. This time more firmly.

"You bitch!" spat Harry and the gun was torn away from her hand. He had lost all rational thought now. "You're going to pay for that!"

He had a look of insanity in his eyes and with a wave of his hand the broken glass pieces from the television rose and impaled themselves in her body making her scream in pain.

"You want to try something Dudley?" he said breathing heavily, the gun now hovering in the air pointing towards Dudley.

Dudley shook his head rapidly, backing away from Harry with his fearful eyes fixed on the gun.

Harry slowly walked up to his aunt and placed the tip of his wand against her neck. She was weeping, screaming and begging for mercy.

"You don't deserve mercy," said Harry softly. He summoned the gun and shot her in the knee ignoring the high pitched scream that ripped through the house. He didn't even feel an ounce of remorse when he did so. He then placed the gun on her other knee and shot once more splattering her blood all over.

Harry through the gun aside and pointed his wand at Dudley.

"Wha-what are you doing?" stammered Dudley.

Harry would have loved to get some payback against Dudley but the pain in his shoulder was increasing. So scrunching his eyes in concentration he raised his wand and said, " _Obliviate._ "

He then turned his wand on a now passed out Petunia and wiped her mind of all the memories she had of him. He did the same with Vernon and Marge too. He didn't care if they suffered from brain damage. He then threw his cloak over him with his good arm and stumbled out of the house.

A few minutes later he heard Dudley's scream of terror and confusion and saw a number of people hurrying towards the Dursley's house having heard the gunshots and the screams.

He walked slowly towards the park, cursing himself for not having spent more time learning healing spells.

He felt the pain intensifying and he fell on the grass in the park, his face covered with sweat. He removed his invisibility cloak and tried to examine his wound but his vision began to blur. He saw people hurrying in and out of the Dursley's residence calling for help.

Panting and clenching his fists in pain he tried to think of a plan but his mind wouldn't function.

"Is this the end?" he wondered vaguely.

Suddenly he heard a low growl coming from the bushes and tried to point his wand in that direction but it turned out to be a huge black dog.

"Get away dog," he said weakly falling on his back and groaning in pain, but the dog came next to him and nuzzled his face and began to whine.

Harry chuckled at the dog's antics but just coughed up blood and his vision began to fade. He knew it wouldn't be long until be blacked out again or died.

Through his blurry vision he thought he saw the dog morph into a man and he was sure his mind was playing tricks on him. The man then pulled him into his arms and Harry tried to move away but the man held on firmly.

"Don't worry Harry, I'll take care of you," whispered the dog/man in Harry's ear and then... Harry lost consciousness.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Confessions**

The siren of the ambulance resonated through out the street called Privet Drive. The entire neighboorhood was out and all of them hurried towards the house number four, eager to catch some of the action. Among them was an old woman but she had a different purpose. She forced her way through the crowd of people and found herself being stopped by a police man.

"I'm sorry ma'am, no one is allowed to enter the house," said the police officer in a deep voice.

"Could you please tell me what's going on inside officer. The Dursley's are close friends of mine," said Mrs. Figg.

"Husband got drunk, knocked out his sister and tried to kill his wife. Son was unharmed, just unconscious," answered the cop.

"Oh my!" gasped Mrs. Figg. "Any news on their nephew? He lives with them during the summer."

"Nephew? The boy didn't say anything about anyone else so I'm guessing, he wasn't around."

Mrs. Figg paled. "How did you find out what happened in there sir?"

"Didn't I tell you their son told us? He was too much in shock to lie about anything and the evidence inside confirms his story. Mr. Dursley first attacked his sister, then proceeded to try and stab his wife with broken glass and in the end stumbled onto the television set and passed out. I reckon their kid passed out of fear.

So now why don't you go back…" The cop looked around to find her gone. "Crazy old woman," he muttered.

Mrs. Figg hurried back to her house in panic. Harry was gone and the Dursley's have apparently had their memories modified!

She hurried to her fireplace and threw in some floo powder and yelled "Hogwarts headmaster's office!"

She felt her head spinning and it was something she hated doing but this was an emergency. "Dumbledore!" she yelled as soon as she felt her head stop spinning, "Dumbledore, where are you! This is urgent!"

She heard footsteps and a door appeared in the wall opposite her and Dumbledore stepped out wearing an orange night gown.

"Mrs. Figg! What a pleasant surprise! To what do I owe this visit?"

"Albus, the boy has gone! Black's gotten to him!" she said in a panicky voice.

"Calm down Arabella," he said sharply switching from kind to dangerous instantly, "Tell me what happened from the beginning."

Mrs. Figg took deep breaths and swallowed a large amount of soot in the process. Sighing Dumbledore waved his wand and stopped her from coughing uncontrollably.

"Thank you Albus."

"Now, about Harry."

"The boys gone Albus and I think someone has modified the Dursley's memories."

"What!"

"Yes, the muggle police are there and they say that Vernon got drunk and attacked his family and they said there was nobody in the house except for the Dursley's. It looks like Black got to Harry Albus!"

"Impossible, the wards will not allow anyone with the intention to harm Harry inside the house."

"He is Harry's godfather and he might have found a way in."

Dumbledore looked grim. "I'm going to have to take a look at the house myself. Arabella, I want you to alert Lupin and Moody about the situation, nobody else. Tell them what has happened here and who could be responsible. Ask them to look around and _make sure_ none of the ministry members find out about this. We don't want Fudge to create a hue and cry for his own purpose."

"Err…Albus?"

"Yes"

"I don't know where Lupin lives."

Dumbledore sighed again, "Alright, I'll send him an owl and you alert Moody."

"Alright….. Will you be coming through the floo or will you apparate?"

"I'll apparate, I need to look like a muggle to gain entrance to the house," he said with a smile. "Now hurry up Arabella, if Black has indeed captured Harry we must move quickly before he does any harm to Harry."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dumbledore apparated to a dark alley near Privet Drive and quickly made his way to the Dursley's residence. He found the house surrounded by a yellow tape and a man guarding the entrance. Apart from that there was complete silence in the neighborhood. Everybody had been sent home by the police and the Dursley's had been taken to the nearest hospital.

"I'm sorry sir, but this area is out of bound for all except authorized personals."

"Ah yes, I am with a special department of the government and I have been authorized to investigate the area," said Dumbledore smiling genially.

The man looked at Dumbledore incredulously. "Aren't you too old to be working sir?"

"Age is nothing in front of the power of the mind," replied Dumbledore.

" _Riigghhttt,_ I'm going to have to some ID if you want to go in."

"ID?"

"Identification sir?"

"Oh right," said Dumbledore. He fished around in his pockets and produced a blank piece of paper. He showed the man the paper and discreetly pointed his wand at him with his other hand.

"Thank you sir, enjoy doing whatever is it you do," he said, looking slightly dazed.

"Thank you," said Dumbledore and walked in.

He found a man and a woman inside the house wearing gloves and whispering to each other.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

Both of them jumped, their hands moving to their weapons.

"Who are you?" asked the woman.

"I'm Albus Dumbledore and I am here to investigate," he replied calmly, eying the weapon in the woman's hands curiously.

"That's our job," said the man, "Which department are you with?"

Dumbledore sighed again and waved his wand once more.

"Oh I'm sorry sir, we're just a bit on the edge," said the woman.

"It's quite understandable Miss…?"

"Davis, its Jenny Davis."

"Thank you Ms. Davis. Could you please tell me what you've found out so far?" asked Dumbledore.

"Well it look's like we have to ask a lot of questions to the Dursley's," said the man.

"Yeah, we found three bullet shells instead of two in the living room and a few drops of blood near the kitchen which belongs to none of the Dursley's. It clearly indicates someone else was there at the time of the incident and was shot by the one of the Dursley's or by someone else."

"We've sent the weapon and the blood to the forensic department and we should be getting the results in a week," said the man.

"That long?" asked Dumbledore playing along. He had no idea what these people were talking about.

"But we found out that Mr. Dursley had purchased a 9 mm about two years ago. His reason was safety against intruders," said Jenny.

"Load of crap if you ask me."

Dumbledore's mind was racing as he analysed the pieces of information that made sense to him. He looked around and could feel the magic which had been cast recently in the house. He could only think of two possibilities, one that Harry was attacked by the Dursley's and he fought and escaped or Sirius Black had somehow gained access to the house and there was a struggle in which Harry was captured.

It seemed that Black kidnapping Harry seemed more likely because if Harry had done magic, it would have been detected by the ministry. But the question was how did Black get through the wards?

"Are you alright sir?" asked Jenny.

Dumbledore looked up, startled "I'm sorry you were saying?"

"I said we also found something interesting in the cupboard under the stairs," she said.

"Might I have a look?" asked Dumbledore politely.

"That's why I told you," she replied, "Come on, have a look."

She held a blue light in her hand and asked him to look inside. "Look, there's a small bed and a light inside. Looking at that what would you say?"

"Err… someone lived here?"

She gave Dumbledore a scathing look. "You'd say it would be too small for someone to live in and if someone would have to live in here, he or she would have to be like less than ten years old!"

"Oh"

"And not only that…. You see those stains on the bed and the floor?"

"Yes?"

"Those are blood stains."

"Blood stain?"

"Yes, of course they are completely dried up and if I had to take a guess the blood seems to be about five to six years old."

"And how would you know that?" asked Dumbledore carefully.

This time both of them stared at Dumbledore and answered at the same time, "Experience."

"I see…. Is there any thing else."

Both of them exchanged a look. "Yes," answered Jenny slowly "There's a room on top which none of us were able to open. Every time someone touched the handle they would simply get a violent shock and it wouldn't budge when we tried to break it down. We called for a sledge hammer and a chain saw in the morning to get it open."

"May I see the room?"

"Of course, maybe you'll have better luck than us, but I sincerely doubt it," said the man leading Dumbledore to the next floor.

"So this is the room," asked Dumbledore.

"Yep and I wouldn't touch the handle if I were you," warned Jenny.

Dumbledore carefully examined the door. He drew his wand and tested the magic present. There was a simple intruder ward which was probably the reason the muggles were being shocked violently and there was quite a complex locking charm too.

"Please stand back," he said quietly to the two detectives.

"What are…?"

Dumbledore placed his wand on the handle and a low whistling sound began to emit from the door. It went higher and higher until it suddenly stopped and the door clicked open and Dumbledore pulled it open.

Both the detectives started at the headmaster in amazement.

"How did you do that!" exclaimed Jenny.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Experience."

"Why couldn't we open the door?"

"It was a security system, a very well made and strong one too," he said and walked into the room and switched on the light.

"WOW!" gasped Jenny in shock and awe.

"Jesus!" whispered the man. "Are we still in the same house!"

Dumbledore didn't reply. He himself was astounded at the level of magic that had been used in room.

"Is it just me or does the room seem bigger than it's supposed to be?" asked the man in a daze.

"It's not just you Karl," said Jenny, "What do you think Mr. Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore didn't reply again. He was lost in his own thoughts. Without giving a thought to the other two in the room, he pointed his wand at the floor and muttered finite, but it had no effect. Frowning, he put a little more power into the spell and said ' _finite incantatem'_.

Slowly all the furniture in the room morphed back into their original forms and the room too shrank back to its original size.

"You have a lot of explaining to do Harry," murmured Dumbledore. He heard a clicking sound behind him and saw the two detectives pointing their guns at him, their hands shaking.

"W-who or w-what are you!" demanded Karl. "What the hell did you do!"

"Did I not explain?" said Dumbledore politely.

"And what's that stick in your hand?"

"Oh, this?" he said pointing the wand at them.

"Point it else where!"

"This is called a wand, it is a tool which helps a wizard or a witch to pull out their magical power and use it for various tasks."

Jenny and Karl stared at Dumbledore with disbelief written all over their faces.

"You don't believe me? Oh, well, I might as well demonstrate," he said with a sigh. He then moved his wand faster than their eyes could follow and said, " _Obliviate."_

Five minutes later, all traces of Harry vanished from the house he had grown up in and nearly an hour later nobody in Privet Drive remembered anything about a boy named Harry Potter.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Tea Professor?" asked Mrs. Figg.

"Thank you Arabella. Did you contact Moody?"

"Of course," she said. "My head was turned into a tea kettle too."

Dumbledore laughed.

"Did you find Harry professor?"

"No."

"Did you find any clues in the house?"

"Many."

"What did you find out?"

"Enough to know that Sirius Black was not responsible for what happened tonight, it was all Harry."

"Harry did that to the Dursley's!" gasped Mrs. Figg. "Harry would never do that kind of a thing to anybody! And even if he did, he would have used magic and it would have been detected by the ministry!"

"It was Harry, Arabella. And magic done with Harry's wand cannot be detected by the ministry," he said with a heavy sigh.

"W-what, how is that possible?"

"He's a smart boy, he must have figured out something. And I doubt Moody and Lupin will have any luck finding him. From what I've observed at Hogwarts, that boy is very talented at hiding himself when he wants to."

"But he is going to come back to Hogwarts, is he not?"

"He will. I am sure of it. It is only his safety for which I'm worried about. I only hope that we find him before Black does."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry felt pain. No it wasn't pain, it was agony. He couldn't move and he couldn't open his eyes. But he could hear and feel everything going on around him. He felt as if something was digging into his shoulder, trying to go deeper and deeper, moving around as if searching for something and then… and then it was out.

He felt the pain reducing and slowly started becoming aware of things other than the pain. He realized he was on a bed and there was someone standing next to him, slowly and gently bandaging his shoulder and pressing a wet cloth to his forehead.

He tried to open his eyes but he couldn't. Every time he tried, it felt like they were glued together and grew stronger every time he attempted to open them.

The man must have realized that he was somewhat awake and began whispering things he couldn't understand at all. He heard something sounding like a wand… need… heal, but they made no sense to him at all. The voice began to fade after a while and he lost consciousness again.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Harry awoke the next day, he found himself in a dark room, unlike his beautiful room, back in Privet Drive.

Suddenly the memories of the previous night came crashing back to him and he turned sharply to look at his shoulder. But to his immense surprise he found it heavily bandaged and it didn't seem to hurt at all!

"Where the hell am I?" he said to himself.

"You're in number 12 Grimmauld Place," came a hoarse voice from the corner.

In an instant Harry's wand was in his uninjured hand and was pointed in the direction of the sound, only to reveal a tall, bearded, dirty man who was had raised his hands in surrender.

"Easy Harry, I'm not going to hurt you," he said.

"Who are you?" demanded Harry.

The man just rose from the chair in the corner and looked at Harry.

"I asked you a question!"

But the man kept staring at Harry, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Who are you!" shouted Harry.

And then came the reply, "You look just like your father. If it weren't for Lily's eyes, I'd think you were a reincarnation of James, though you are in a way."

Harry was dumbfounded, "What?"

"Your hair is exactly like James, same color, stands at almost the same places, but you got Lily's nose. Thank god for that, cause James nose was like a was a major turn off for any girl when she got up close to him. Lily always complained that she'd hit his nose first rather than his lip and he'd always complain she'd pull him down too fast, so he'd use a switching spell and replace his nose with hers and hers with his and she'd go mad and curse his hair off and then James would go crying to Lupin for help…"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Harry effectively stopping the man from talking. I bloody asked you who are you! Not talk about my dead parents like they were your best friends! Now tell me WHO ARE YOU!"

The man looked slightly confused and then he realized where he was. "I'm sorry. I was just lost in the past."

"This is the last time I'm going to ask you, _who are you?"_

"I don't think you might have heard of me," he began hesitantly, "My names Sirius Black, and I'm you're godfather."

Harry's eyes widened in shock and horror. For a moment he was unable to think, unable to move. He was just frozen in his spot.

"Harry?"

Harry looked up, "What did you say?" he said, his voice trembling.

"I said my names Sirius Black, Harry," he said, sounding a bit worried.

"That's impossible," whispered Harry.

"Harry, are you alright?"

"Stop playing games with me and tell me who you are or I'm going to blast you through that wall!"

Suddenly it dawned on Sirius that Harry might actually know about his alleged crime. "Harry, what do you know about Sirius Black?" he asked urgently.

A bang emitted from Harry's wand and Sirius dove to his right as the wall behind him was blown to bits.

"Harry, please wait! Let me explain! If I wanted to kill you would I try to heal your shoulder!" he shouted.

Harry lowered his wand by a fraction.

"I swear I'm not going to hurt you Harry."

"Who are you?" Harry asked again.

"I'm Sirius Black, but I swear I'm not going to hurt you!" he shouted, seeing Harry raise his wand again. "Just hear me out please!"

"Sirius Black murdered my parents," hissed Harry, "Why on earth would he try to save my life and help me?"

"Because what you've heard about Sirius Black is not true!"

"What?"

"Look, you must have heard that I sold out your parents to Voldemort and then murdered a dozen muggles but _it's not true!_ "

Harry stared at Sirius who was crouching behind a chair.

"Please hear me out and then you can do whatever you wish," he pleaded.

Harry looked like he was considering hearing the man out but then his eyes clouded with anger again he sent another blasting curse towards the man.

"Harry stop!" screamed Sirius. But Harry just snarled and launched curse after curse.

"I'll take an oath, I'll do anything but just let me talk for five minutes Harry! You need to know the _truth!_ "

Harry paused breathing heavily. He just wanted to blast Black to pieces just like he had done to Pettigrew but he calmed himself and took a deep breath.

"Talk," said Harry shortly.

Sirius slowly came out of his hiding place, eyeing Harry's wand warily. "Maybe you should sit down or you'll end up hurting your shoulder."

"I said talk."

"Maybe I could borrow your wand and do a spell that will ensure that I speak the truth?"

There was no response.

"Erm… I really don't know where to begin…"

"Were you my parent's secret keeper?" asked Harry suddenly without any trace of emotion on his face.

"No," said Sirius venomously.

"That's not what everyone else says."

"That's because nobody knew who the real secret keeper was except for me, James and Lily."

"Then who was."

"Peter Pettigrew."

.

.

.

.

"You killed him…. along with 13 muggles….. There were a dozen witnesses."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw Harry! Yes I went there with the intention of killing Peter because he betrayed your parents _not me_!"

"Are you saying he's still alive!"

"Yes, that little bastard is still alive but not…"

"The biggest piece of Peter that was found was a finger after you blew him to bits. How can you say he's still alive after that?"

"That's because Peter got better of me at that time. You see when your father and I were at school, we the best of friends, we were like brothers. We were a band of four best friends that included James, Remus, Peter and me," he began but stopped at the look on Harry's face.

"Harry please, you have to believe me! You'd understand if you knew the past!"

"All you have told me is that you didn't betray my parents, a dead man did. You didn't kill that dead man and a number of muggles. In short you're innocent but you haven't offered me any hard proof. To me it sounds like a desperate lie made a desperate murderer."

"If… if only you knew the _truth_!" he groaned.

"I haven't stopped you from telling me anything."

Sirius moved towards Harry.

"Stay where you are or else you'll be holding your head in your hands. Now I'm going to give you fifteen minutes to convince me. After that you'll find yourself back in Azkaban before you'd know it."

"It's not going to Azkaban for me, it'll be the dementors kiss," Sirius said quietly.

"I couldn't care less."

Sirius closed his eyes and missed the silent spell which washed over him. "We met on the train, your father and I, and we were best of friends instantly. He was a complete Gryffindor to the core and his whole family was all Gryffindors too. But me, I came from a background of Slytherins, but to my delight _and_ relief I was placed in Gryffindor along with your father. There we met Remus and Peter. Remus was a bookworm and Peter… well Peter was a coward and a tag along. Being roommates we soon became friends unlike anyone else. We hung out together, played pranks together, had detention together and what not.

But then, in our third year, we realized that Remus kept vanishing on full moon nights and came back the next day making excuses about being ill or visiting his grandmother and all sorts of nonsense. Of course we didn't believe him and we realized he was a werewolf."

Sirius looked like he was no longer aware of where he was but was simply remembering the happier times of his life. The memories he could not recall in Azkaban.

"When we confronted him about it, he began panicking and actually tried to run for it, really stupid of him. So we decided to keep him company when he transformed. Of course you can't keep a werewolf company when you're human so James came up with the brilliant idea of becoming animagi, the ability to change into an animal at will. At first the idea sounded insane and Remus objected furiously but James was a genius at transfiguration and by the end of our fifth year we had successfully managed to change into an animal at our will.

James was a stag, I was a dog and _Peter…_ Peter was a rat."

He glanced at Harry hoping to see some reaction but had no luck. Harry was stone faced and was listening to Sirius quietly.

"Then James started dating Lily in our seventh year and they got married right after graduation. They didn't want to wait because Voldemort was taking over everywhere and they wanted to spend every second of the day together. You were born soon after and about ten months later Dumbledore comes to Lily and James and tells them you might be in danger."

"Me!" said Harry, startled.

"Yes you, he told us that for some reason Voldemort was after you and urged them to go into hiding. Of course James refused at first saying he wanted to fight but your safety came first and they decided to cast the fidelius charm over their house. It is a charm which…"

"I know what it does," said Harry shortly.

"Well Dumbledore wanted to be secret keeper but James refused and insisted that I be the secret keeper. It was decided that they would cast the charm a few weeks before your birthday and lily would be the one to do the spell. Three days prior to the day the spell was cast I approached James and told him to change the secret keeper to Peter because it would be to obvious if it were me since I was their closet friend and if there had to be a secret keeper, it would be me.

We didn't tell anyone because there was a spy on our side and we suspected Remus since he was a werewolf and all the werewolf's were joining Voldemort. We didn't even tell Dumbledore thinking it was a perfect plan. Nobody would even suspect that Peter, the boy who used to worship James in school would be his secret keeper.

We thought there were no miscalculations…. _That_ was our biggest miscalculation. And then on Halloween Voldemort came to your house and killed your parents and then tried to kill you but met his end. When I heard the news I rushed to Peter's hide out thinking he had been tortured and was forced to give up the location but when I reached his house, there was no sign of a struggle. And that moment I knew, I _knew_ that Peter was the spy not Remus. After all it was just like him to run to the more powerful men and ask for their protection.

I then rushed to your house and found it in half blown apart. I found James and Lily lying together, dead and Hagrid crying over their bodies holding you. I insisted that he give you to me since I was your godfather but he refused. He said that Dumbledore was going to put you in a safe place temporarily and he was not to give you to anyone else. So I agreed and gave him my motorcycle for a safe journey.

I was devastated at the death of my best friends and driven by grief I decided to go after Peter and make him pay for what he had done."

At this point Sirius looked fairly ferocious.

"I found him in a muggle street and before I could say a word he shouted to every one that I betrayed James and Lily and he blew apart the street with his wand hidden behind his back. Before I could react he cut of his finger and transformed into a rat and made his escape.

I was in shock, I didn't know what to do and I began to laugh. I couldn't believe what was going on. My friends were dead, Remus had been missing for months and Peter had betrayed us all and I was all alone. Even when the aurors arrived I continued to laugh and they arrested me and threw me in Azkaban. They threw me in Azkaban without giving me a trail and without even listening to a word I had to say.

For days I screamed I was innocent but the prison guards just laughed. I hoped someone would come and visit me but no one did, I prayed Dumbledore would come and at least demand an explanation from me but he never came. Soon I gave up hope, hope that I would somehow get out of this hell, hope that I would met you and raise you like you were my son but it wasn't to be.

The dementors would come and go but I never lost my mind like the other prisoners. The dementors suck away a person's happiness and make him reveal his worst memories but I didn't have a happy memory. I didn't have a single happy thought; all I knew was that I was innocent. The knowledge that I was innocent was like a life line to me and I held on to it desperately, it helped me remain sane. A few times I would transform into a dog and that would reduce the effects of the dementors and I began spending more of my time as a dog. I didn't know how long it was since I was thrown in prison but I never lost my mind. One day the minister was inspecting the prison and as he was passing my cell I called out to him and asked him for the newspaper. I told him I missed doing the crossword and the look on his face was enough to brighten up my day. He simply nodded and handed me the paper and literally ran away. And then, I saw Peter. I saw Peter right on the front page."

He dug his hand into his pocket and removed a dirty crumpled paper and handed it to Harry.

"Look at the picture," he croaked, "Look at the rat."

Harry looked at the picture and recognized the Weasley family. His eyes moved to Ron and he saw the rat sitting on his shoulder.

"Look carefully, it has one paw missing," said Sirius. "And after the number of times I have seen Peter transform into a rat, I'd never fail to recognize his animagus form anywhere. After seeing his picture in the paper, the feeling of revenge came back to me, I transformed into a dog and when the dementors came to give me my dinner, I slipped out of the bars and made my escape. I swam to the mainland and broke into a muggles barn. I then made my way to Knockturn alley and broke into a local library and began searching for the Weasley's address but instead I found yours. I then made my way to Privet drive and found you terribly wounded. I tired to look for your wand but I couldn't find it so I covered us both with your invisibility cloak and apparated us to this house.

Lily had once forced us all to read a muggle medical book saying that it might come in handy during the war if we lost our wands. I somehow managed to remove that bullet from your shoulder and bandaged it up. You might want to visit a healer though."

"It's been thirty minutes," said Harry.

"What?"

"And I said I'd give you only fifteen."

Sirius stared at Harry, mouth opened.

"Though I must say, it certainly is a very convincing story."

"You don't believe me!" whispered Sirius.

"I don't want to."

"Harry, I'd say the same things under veritaserum too or just lend me your wand and I'll swear on my magic that whatever I've told you is the truth!"

Harry didn't know what to do. He wanted to believe the man in front of him and it definitely sounded like he was telling the truth and there was one way to confirm it.

Sighing he raised his wand and pointed it at Sirius. " _Trumus,"_ he muttered.

Sirus began to glow green for a few seconds and then the light disappeared.

"What was that?"

"Whatever you have said to me in the past half hour… is it or is it not true?" he asked Sirius, his voice trembling.

"Every word I have said is the truth," said Sirius.

Sirius began to glow pink.

"What is this?" he asked looking at himself.

"It was a truth spell," said Harry tiredly.

"So…. You believe me?" he asked hopefully.

Harry nodded. "I have to," he said and yet he was filled with a sense of relief and joy and sadness. He was really confused.

"I… wow… that's just great…" began Sirius, his face breaking into a huge smile.

"So what now?" asked Harry, his stony expression changing to a somewhat uncomfortable one.

"Why don't we go to the kitchen and talk Harry," said Sirius, his face glowing with happiness. "My stomach's killing me and I'm sure you're hungry too."

Harry nodded awkwardly and followed Sirius. His was feeling like a train collided with it headlong.

As the headed down Harry's eyes grew wider and wider at the decor of the house.

"Whose house is this? It looks like a house of horror and it reeks!" said Harry wrinkling his nose.

"Its mine, you are in the most ancient and noble house of the Blacks, in other words a haven for dark wizards and criminals," said Sirius cheerfully.

"Like you?"

"Like me," he agreed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Two days had passed since Harry arrived at Grimmauld place and Harry and Sirius had begun to bond somewhat. For Harry it was like finding a person he could somewhat talk to and for Sirius it was like getting a second chance at life.

"This house is seriously depressing Sirius," complained Harry, as Sirius showed him around the house.

"I lived in this house for sixteen years, don't tell me about depressing! It was a relief when I started Hogwarts. The Gryffindor common room was like heaven compared to this dump."

"I'm sure the Gryffindor common room is nothing compared to Slytherin common room."

Sirius muttered something under his breath.

"You say something Sirius?" said Harry, sounding a bit amused.

"I said I still can't believe you're a slimy Slytherin!"

"I still can't believe you're still going on about that. Stop being a baby and grow up!"

"Oh, what has the world come to… I leave the world for thirteen years and a Potter ends up getting sorted to _Slytherin!_?"

"Better than being a Gryffindork," said Harry.

"Gryffindor is a hundred times better than Slytherin!"

"No it's not."

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is and there's no doubt about it!"

"Slytherin is the best and the record proves it too!"

"Well….. The people in it suck!"

Harry sighed, "I have to agree with you on that."

"HA!"

"But they're not all bad, there a just a few bad eggs who ruin the name of the house."

"They're all bad," muttered Sirius.

"How mature of you…," said Harry sarcastically.

Harry and Sirius glared at each other and then sat down in a huff.

"Kreacher!" shouted Sirius.

There was a crack and an ugly house elf bowed to Sirius.

"Master called?" it croaked.

"Get some cake and tea. Don't poison it and make it perfectly and don't talk to my mother and bring it within twenty minutes."

It gave Sirius a pure look of loathing and vanished with a crack.

"Why don't you get rid of that elf?"

"I don't know myself," he said, sounding bewildered.

"Why doesn't he clean the house?" asked Harry.

"Cause he's mad. He's lost his mind after taking orders from my insane mother for more than fifteen years."

"Where is her portrait anyway?"

"By the entrance hall, behind the moth eaten velvet curtains," he said "If you want your ears intact, I suggest you tread carefully when you walk past her."

"Right," muttered Harry and stood up.

"Where you going?" asked Sirius.

"To get rid of your mother," replied Harry.

"I wish you luck!"

Sirius waited with baited breath and then the screaming began…. But to his utter surprise, it stopped within seconds and a minute later Harry came strolling inside looking pleased.

"What happened?"

"Mrs. Black is no more," said Harry.

"Huh?"

"You heard me."

"I'm sorry, I thought you said you destroyed my mother's portrait."

"That's exactly what I said."

"Huh?"

"Stop acting like a Gryffindork Sirius… oh sorry I forgot, you are one," said Harry with a smirk.

"Wha…. Hey!"

"I just told you I destroyed your mother's portrait and all you say is huh!" demanded Harry.

"I said huh, because she put a permanent sticking charm on that portrait and you'd have to magic to remove it and it still wouldn't come out because _it's a permanent sticking charm!"_

Harry raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think I didn't use magic?"

"If you did you'd be expelled from Hogwarts."

"There's no letter," remarked Harry.

Sirius stared at Harry in disbelief. He then stood up went out of the room and came back looking amazed 10 seconds later.

"How in Merlin's name did you get rid of the bitch!" he all but shouted in joy.

"Magic," was Harry's simple reply.

"You're underage."

"That doesn't stop me."

"You used magic outside Hogwarts?"

"How do you think I survived at the Dursley's?"

"Your shoulder looks good doesn't it?"

"Shut it! I didn't expect that bitch to shoot me! I'd expected that only from the senior fat arse!"

"But seriously Harry, the ministry has ways to detect underage magic. There's no way you could do magic outside Hogwarts without them detecting it."

Harry sighed.

"Close your eyes," he said.

Sirius frowned, "What are you going to do?"

"Make this room clean with one spell," was Harry's reply.

Sirius laughed, "There's no way you can clean this room with one spell!" he said with a scoff.

"We'll see."

Sirius closed his eyes, "If you pull this off, I'll shave my head and kick Kreacher out."

Harry stopped, "How about you do anything I say for the rest of the year instead of shaving your head and kicking Kreacher out?"

"You have deal Prongs junior."

Harry smiled. He closed his eyes and recalled the spell he'd found in the advanced charms book he had found in his vault.

He placed the tip of his wand on the floor and muttered ' ** _abstergo_** **'** under his breath. Slowly a breeze began to form around him and began spreading in all directions. A minute later the breeze died down and Harry stood up.

"You can open your eyes now Sirius."

"H-H-HOLY CRAP!"

"That's a good reaction," said Harry, sniggering.

"What the hell did you do?"

"Magic"

"But you're underage!"

"Yep"

"And there's no letter from the ministry!"

"That's right"

"There's not a speck of dirt left!"

"I told you."

"Even my clothes have become clean!"

"Including you."

"Everything looks brand new!"

"But the curtains are still torn, we'll probably need new ones."

"I've never heard of such a spell."

"I don't doubt it."

Sirius looked at Harry in amazement and sank into the chair. At the same time Kreacher came in with the cake and tea.

"Put it down on the table and stay in the kitchen and don't touch anything unless I tell you," said Sirius.

He looked at Sirius with hate and Harry with fear and retreated back into the kitchen.

"You're a scary kid you know that."

"Don't call me kid."

"Whatever you say kiddo," said Sirius with a grin.

"Do you want to know what else I can do with my wand?"

"No, no, I don't!" said Sirius hastily.

"Then don't call me kid."

"Whatever you say Harry," he said quickly.

"So what do say we go to Diagon alley tomorrow?" asked Harry suddenly.

"You sure you want to go there? I'm sure Dumbledore will be looking for you and if he finds you I don't know where he'll make you stay."

"He can try," said Harry mutinously.

"Oh he will alright," said Sirius.

"I don't care, I modified they Dursley's memories when I left and I'm pretty sure their brains are a little damaged now. If he tries to put me in any household other than this and he'll find the line at St. Mungo's grow by the second."

"And I was wondering why you were placed in Slytherin," muttered Sirius.

"I still don't get it, why you don't want to meet Dumbledore and clear your name," said Harry ignoring his godfathers comment.

"I already told you… Dumbledore never even doubted that I was capable of betraying your parents and never even came to ask me why I did it. This is my fight and I'm not going to let anyone else fight it for me. Peter destroyed me and I'm going to find and kill him myself."

"That's why we call Gryffindor's Gryffindork's," said Harry.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What makes you think that Peter's going to let him get caught so easily. You think you can break into Hogwarts, sneak into the Gryffindor common room, get into the boys dorm and get Peter without anyone spotting you?"

"Yes," said Sirius confidently.

Harry sighed, "That's why you're an idiot and that's why you got thrown into Azkaban."

Sirius was ready to interrupt but Harry stopped him.

"I'm going to be at Hogwarts, it will be easier for me to get to him than you. I can get the help of one of the Gryffindor's and get them to get Peter to me. Once I have him, I can take him to the Dumbledore and you will be free…. Now how does that sound compared to your plan of breaking into Hogwarts, finding Peter and killing him on the spot?"

"Much better," grumbled Sirius.

"Now about that trip to Diagon alley."


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 – Dementors**

Remus Lupin quietly walked through the corridors of Hogwarts towards the headmaster's office.

Every step he took felt like a step into the memories of the past. How long had it been since he had walked through these halls and experienced the best years of his life. How long had it been since he had felt such pain and regret of loosing the only good friends he ever had.

Sighing heavily he shook his head in an effort to get rid of those sad thoughts and wondered why the headmaster would want to speak to him after all these years. The last time he had contacted him was when he wanted help to catch a group of rampaging werewolf's.

"Bumblebee," he said, reaching the entrance to the headmaster's office. He walked up the circular stairs thinking that the last time he had walked up these stairs was with James, Sirius and Peter for switching the entire Slytherin houses clothes to a tutu and Snape's to a thong in the great hall!

Before he knew it he was in front of the headmasters office and raised his hand to knock. Before his hand could touch the door he heard a 'come in Remus' from inside effectively stopping his knocking sequence.

He smiled and wondered for the millionth time, how was it that the headmaster knew who was outside his door. Maybe the Gargoyle at the entrance informed him or he had some sort of enchantment near the door alerting him about the identity of the person outside.

"Good evening headmaster," he said pleasantly.

"Good evening Remus, I gather you got my message?"

"Yes, sir," he said taking a seat. "May I ask why you wanted to see me?"

"Ah yes, you see I had a proposal for you," he said getting straight to the point.

"A proposal?"

"Yes…. You see I am unable to find a defense against the dark arts teacher and I am desperately in the need for a competent one," said Albus, his eyes twinkling.

"So do you want me to look for a teacher?"

"No, no, you misunderstand Remus. I want you to teach at Hogwarts this year. If you remember correctly you had received an outstanding on your defense OWL and it was and still remains one of your strongest subjects."

"Absolutely not headmaster, you know what I am and you know how the parents would react if they found out what kind of a creature is teaching their students!"

"Remus…. I wouldn't have asked you to take the job if I didn't think it was safe for you to teach here and I need you here this year for reasons I think you know without me having to bring them up!"

Remus looked up, his face darkening. "Teaching here would hamper my efforts to capture him."

"Teaching here would ensure that you capture him," replied Dumbledore gravely.

"Explain," said Remus shortly.

"Before Black escaped, the guards told the minister that he would keep uttering one sentence over and over during his sleep."

"And that is…?"

"He's at Hogwarts."

Remus paled.

"That's right Remus, he's coming after the last Potter and the best way for you to capture Black would be by staying close to Harry Potter."

"Regarding Harry, have you found him yet?"

Dumbledore sighed, "No, I haven't. But I am pretty sure he is staying in a muggle house, safe from wizards and you know who."

"You're sure that he's not in Blacks custody already?" asked Remus worriedly.

"Positive."

Remus sighed, "Where on earth could he be! It's not safe for him to be all alone out there without any protection with a mass murderer on the loose."

"I have the same concerns my friend but I am sure Harry is safe."

"What makes you so confident?"

"Mundungus Fletcher spotted him in Diagon Alley. He had changed his hair and eye color but you know what kind of gadgets Fletcher carries. He saw right through Harry's disguise and contacted me immediately."

"Why didn't you confront him and send him back his home!" cried Remus.

"That was my intention, but by the time I got there he was already gone."

"Without leaving a trace that even you couldn't follow? I find that hard to believe!"

"I could have found him if I really wanted to but from what I know of Harry, he wouldn't appreciate me barging into his privacy and if I did that, it would destroy whatever trust he has in me."

"But it's for his own safety and he is only thirteen! How can you expect him to survive without any help from an adult?"

"I am confident Harry can take care of himself and will show up on September 1st and as for his safety, let's just say I have ways to make sure he doesn't come to any harm."

Remus sighed, "Okay professor, I have faith in you to keep the boy safe. But I cannot accept your offer. It is just too risky and I don't want to hurt any student by accident."

"During your stay here, Professor Snape will supply you with wolfsbane potion regularly ensuring your sanity during full moon nights and I will put up some wards around your office making sure you do not by any chance leave the safety of your office and all the professors will not, under any circumstances reveal the nature of your illness to any student," said Dumbledore firmly.

Remus could not find a way to contradict the headmaster.

"So do I have a new defense professor Remus?"

"It seems there's no way for me to decline is there?" said Remus with a wry smile.

"Sadly no…"

"Well then, I accept Professor Dumbledore."

"Excellent! I'll have Dinky show you your new room," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling brightly.

"Err… I know where the staff quarters are headmaster," said Remus with a guilty smile.

"Of course… of course… there wasn't a single place in Hogwarts that you and your friends didn't know about was there?"

"As far as we know…. _knew_ …. There isn't."

Dumbledore chuckled "It's a shame the way things worked out isn't it…"

"Indeed it is," said Remus with a heavy sigh. "Sometimes I wish I was fifteen again, without any worries and enjoying life like there was no tomorrow."

"Happiness sometimes is just an illusion Remus," said Dumbledore gently. "It can only be achieved when man has no regrets in his life and appreciates himself for what he is and craves for nothing more."

"And some are never meant to be happy," said Remus bitterly.

"Remus… I've lived for a long time… and if there is one thing I've learnt, it is to never give on peace and happiness."

"I better get going professor," he said abruptly, not wanting to dwell more on the past and rather focus on more pressing matters, like capturing Sirius Black. "I have quite a few things to bring to the castle and it will take me quite some time."

"Of course Remus. Have a good day," said the headmaster quietly.

On his way out, Remus stopped near the door and turned around.

"What is it Remus?"

"Professor…. Do you mind me asking…? Err… how's Harry?"

"What do you mean?"

"As in… is he on the Gryffindor Quidditch team like his dad or is he a prankster or what?"

"Oh, he is in the Quidditch team and as for his personality, you'll have to see for yourself!" said Dumbledore with a chuckle.

"I really don't like the sound of that headmaster."

"You'll see what I mean when you met him."

Remus sighed again, "I really hope he's alright."

"Me too Remus, me too…"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Checkmate!"

"That's impossible!" cried Harry.

"That's what James used to say when he'd lose!" said Sirius in a sing song voice.

Harry frowned and stared at the chess board intently trying to prove his godfather wrong but it was useless.

"Damn" said Harry, slamming his hand on the chess board.

"That's trait you've picked up from Lily! Inability to accept defeat!"

"Shut it," muttered Harry angrily.

Sirius leaned back on the chair and popped a chocolate into his mouth. "You have lost again prongs junior," he said with a smirk.

"Don't call me that."

"Why not? You are Prongs son aren't you?"

"Doesn't mean I'm a prongs junior," said Harry, the irritation showing in his voice.

"Whatever you say Harry…. But it doesn't change the fact that you lost _again!"_

"Might I remind you that I have a wand and you _don't_!"

Sirius paled. "I still don't understand how can you do magic without the ministry detecting it."

"And I told you not to bother about it."

"How can I not!"

"Do I look like I care? No matter how much you ask you're not getting any answers out of me."

Sirius sighed and then frowned. "You know… you've been here for more than a week and I still don't know what you like, what are your hobbies, what kind of food you like and so on!"

"That's because you do all the talking and I just ignore you."

"You ignore me!"

"Of course… anybody would get bored of listening to your voice all day long," he said with a smirk.

"You are too Slytherin like, you know that?"

"Duh…."

"No, I mean like a total hard core Slytherin. There's not even an ounce of Gryffindor in you!"

"Thank god!"

"Don't you ever smile or flirt with some hot chicks or do anything fun?"

"I do smile or laugh if the occasion calls for it and I'm not really a fun person."

"Yeah… you're a broody person. You bury yourself in books, enjoy cursing people and have a permanent frown stuck to your head."

"Anything else?"

"And you're too secretive."

Harry sighed. "So?"

"Why don't you talk to me?"

"I'm not a very talkative person, Sirius."

"I figured that out," muttered Sirius sulkily.

"Okay Sirius, let's talk…. What do you want to talk about?" said Harry, sounding resigned.

Sirius immediately brightened up. "Let's start with your childhood."

Harry's face darkened, "I don't want to talk about that."

"You don't want to talk about that! Come on Harry, just say anything! I just want to get to know my godson!"

"Ask anything else," said Harry firmly. "Going by the condition you found me in, you should have a pretty good idea what kind of a childhood I must have had."

"No," answered Sirius equally firmly. "I want to hear it from you. I want you to talk to me and let go of your past by talking to me about it."

"Then the talks over."

"No its not, Look I know it mustn't have been a pretty childhood if you were living with a bitch like Petunia and her pig of a husband. But you have to talk about it, It will do you good, trust me."

"Yeah, you're right!" snapped Harry suddenly, getting irritated by Sirius's pestering. "I didn't have a nice childhood, I got beaten up almost everyday, I was made to work like a slave and to get a plate of food was like eating a Halloween feast in Hogwarts, so yes, my childhood sucked and you're not making it easier to forget by making me recall it again!"

Harry took a deep breath.

"Now if you don't mind I'd like to get some sleep!" he hissed and stomped out of the sitting room leaving a satisfied godfather behind.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The following morning when Harry came down for breakfast, he found Sirius snoring away to glory with a plate in front of him.

Rolling his eyes in amusement he conjured a bucket of cold water and dumped it over his godfathers head.

Gasping and spluttering, Sirius jumped up in shock and looked around wildly, his eyes wide open.

"Morning," said Harry.

"You! Don't you know any other way to wake a sleeping man!" he shouted, spitting water out of his mouth.

"For you, unfortunately no," he said with a smirk.

Sirius muttered some well chosen swear words under his breath.

"Sometimes I think I am the godfather and you're the kid," said Harry.

"Well unfortunately I am the godfather and you're the brat so you have to listen to me!"

"Which will never happen unless I have a death wish," said Harry, cutting him off.

"Just you wait until I get a wand…" muttered Sirius darkly, "You'll be wishing you'd have never messed with Sirius Black…"

"Big words," said Harry, smirking.

"You're one to talk, you're just thirteen and I'm thirty four… I have twice the experience you have and when it comes to pranking, there's no way you can beat me… so just you wait until I get a wand!" said Sirius sounding triumphant.

Harry just shook is head in amusement, "I'll be looking forward to that day Mr. Black…."

"I should have stolen a wand from Ollivander during our trip to the alley," said Sirius, "then we'd see who is right and who is wrong."

"And Ollivander would let a dirty dog just stroll out of shop with one of his wands?" asked Harry sarcastically.

Sirius scoffed, "I'd be out of there before he'd even know what happened."

"You think you're invincible don't you," muttered Harry.

"I don't think, I know!" said Sirius.

"Moron," said Harry under his breath.

"What'd you say!"

"I asked where breakfast is."

"Oh, I thought you called me a moron."

"Now why would I call you that?" said Harry innocently.

"Because that's what you call me all the time!"

"I do?" asked Harry, sounding puzzled.

Sirius snorted, "At least 50 times a day… and yesterday when we went to the alley, you kept muttering moron of a dog under your breath…!"

"Must learn to abuse you without you hearing," muttered Harry.

"And I heard that too!"

"Whatever, now call Kreacher, I'm really hungry."

Fifteen minutes later Harry was enjoying hot bread and eggs while Sirius was snoring in his cereal again.

Suddenly Harry heard a fluttering sound and saw Hedwig soaring towards him, a letter in her beak.

She landed smoothly on the table and dropped the letter in front of Harry. It was from Blaise. She nipped Harry's fingers affectionately and began eating from Sirius's cereal.

Harry opened the letter and began to read. As he read his eyes went wider and wider and then he cursed.

The letter read,

 _Harry,_

 _I asked my dad about those initials we found in that parchment. He said they were of a famous squib who made his name in the muggle world and known as a genius for his skill in painting and architecture. His name was Leonardo Da Vinci, and he was a Potter before he was disowned for being a squib. He changed his surname from Potter to Da Vinci a few years after he was disowned._

 _La Gioconda is the name of a painting he made for the Potter's at their request. Even if they had disowned him he never had any grudges against them. The painting is of Patricia Potter, his mother. After Da Vinci made the painting the Potter's never took it from him and told him to keep it safe in the muggle world. The painting is said to have many secrets but the wizards who have examined it over the years have never found anything so they left it in the muggle world, in Paris to be exact._

 _But about twenty years ago, a fire broke out in the museum it was kept in and the painting was destroyed and there are no copies of it left in both the wizarding and the muggle world._

 _The only weird thing is that he was an Italian and most of the Potter's before him were Italians too. It was few decades later that a Potter married an English pureblood woman by the name of Adelina whose surname is not mentioned and the entire family migrated to England. So you have some Italian blood in you._

 _That's all I was able to find out. I was really sorry to hear that painting was destroyed and you really should do some more research on your family. It seems to have a long and eventful history. God only knows how come you're the only one left._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Blaise…_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry got off the knight bus and made his way casually to the entrance to platform 9 and 3 quarters. Behind him a huge golden brown haired dog followed grumpily.

"Stop acting so immature Padfoot!" hissed Harry, as the dog went running and poked his head up a ladies skirt making her scream.

The dog barked joyfully and began to chase his own tail drawing laughter from the crowd. Delighted at the attention he was receiving, the dog stood on its hind legs and pretended to dance making the crowd gasp and clap loudly.

Groaning Harry grabbed the dog by its collar and dragged him away from the crowd. "Stupid, stinking dog! Can you not draw attention to yourself when we have to pass through the barrier!"

Sirius whined pitifully and rubbed his nose against Harry's leg. Harry sighed and stood up and made his way to the magical barrier. On his way he was stopped by an old man.

"That's no way to treat a dog young man," said the man sternly.

"The way I treat my dog is none of your business sir. Now will you please excuse me, I have a train to catch."

Glaring at Harry, the man turned and headed in the opposite direction.

"See! Now it will be even more difficult to cross the barrier with all those idiots giving me dirty looks!" said Harry with a huff.

Harry waited for a few minutes with Sirius sitting quietly next to him and when the people finally stopped taking notice of him, he crossed the barrier and entered the heavily crowded magical platform.

"Finally we're here," said Harry with a sigh. He was about to get on the train when Padfoot grabbed his pants with his teeth.

Harry stopped and bent down and whispered into the dog's ear, "Don't worry Sirius, I'll make sure I catch that rat and make him suffer. Meanwhile I want you to lay low at Grimmauld place and keep in touch through Hedwig."

The dog barked and licked Harry's face before turning and bounding back towards the exit. Grinning, Harry turned back towards the train and got on.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry, Blaise, Draco, Daphne and Tracey were sitting in a single compartment while Crabbe and Goyle were out looking for first years to bully.

"How was the vacation Harry?" asked Daphne.

"Eventful," replied Harry in a bored tone.

"Care to elaborate."

"No."

"Why not?" asked Tracey.

"Don't bother Daphne," said Blaise. "When he gets all silent and gloomy, there's no use talking to him. All you'll get are smart ass comments or you'll be completely ignored."

The four occupants turned towards Harry to see if he would react but to their disappointment he didn't.

"What did I tell you!" said Blaise, sounding triumphant.

"He looks kinda hot when he's all serious," said Daphne resulting in both girls going into silent fits of laughter.

Draco and Blaise looked sour.

"Yeah, with his hair falling all over the place and with his amazing eyes, any girl would fall for him," said Daphne, hoping to get him to react.

"I'm telling you he won't react! I'm pretty sure he can't even hear you right now. When he gets like this it means he's in deep thought and planning something which usually results in me getting into trouble."

"You getting into trouble?" asked Draco.

"You really don't want to know the shit Harry does in school," said Blaise.

"We want to know!" said Daphne and Tracey together.

"You say anything Blaise and you'll find your tongue glued to your arse," came Harry's voice suddenly, making everybody jump.

"Harry!" said Blaise weakly. "You heard."

"Yeah," grunted Harry. "You look pretty nice too Daphne, you let your hair down more often," he said, making her blush.

"Why the blush? I was just returning the compliment!"

Tracey sniggered.

"Well I can't bear all this mushy talk, so if you'll excuse me, I have two idiots to find," announced Draco and left the compartment without a word.

"What's with him?" asked Daphne.

"Must be his time of the month," said Harry.

Daphne and Tracey looked at him incredulously while Blaise began sniggering.

"You guys have dirty minds," muttered Daphne.

"Its part of being a guy," said Blaise. "Harry was telling me that on an average every guy in the world thinks about sex every 4 seconds!"

"Really!" said Tracey curiously.

"That's what he said."

"Is it true?" asked Daphne with a smirk.

Harry just ignored her, lost in his thoughts again.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Half an hour later Draco came back into the compartment looking peeved.

"Why the pissed off face?" asked Blaise.

"I met two mudbloods and a weasel along with the new defense professor," he grumbled.

"New defense professor?" asked Harry interestedly.

"Yeah, some guy named R. J Lupin."

"Lupin! You sure?"

"Yeah, was written on his briefcase. Anyway I was about to curse the hell out of those three when they hid behind the professor and threatened to awake him if I didn't leave."

"Really?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Yeah," said Draco, failing to notice the sarcasm and continued to boast. "So I told Crabbe and Goyle to go bully some Puff's and I came back here."

"Pansy came in while you were gone," said Daphne.

Malfoy grimaced, "I hope you didn't tell her where I was!"

"We didn't know ourselves so how in Merlin's name would we tell her!"

"Good," he said with relief, "I don't want her hanging all over me before the start of the year itself."

"She'll be back soon though," said Harry.

"What! Why?" cried Draco.

"I told her you'd be back in half an hour or so."

"Why'd you tell her that!"

"You never told me or anyone else to say otherwise did you?"

"Oh, man! I got to get out of here before she turns up," he muttered and hurried out of the compartment.

"She really is a pain in the butt," said Tracey.

"Yeah," said Daphne with a laugh, "She scares the shit out of….."

She was cut off in mid sentence as the train jerked and started to slow down.

"What's going on? We can't have reached Hogwarts yet, could we?" said Tracey.

"No idea. Wonder what's going on," muttered Blaise, peering out of the window.

"Why is it so cold?" said Daphne as she began to shiver and drew her knees up to her chin.

"I- I don't know," said Tracey "But I'm feeling so horrible right now…."

"H-Harry…. What's going on!" asked Blaise, shivering himself.

Harry didn't respond. He was staring outside intently watching a number of black cloaked figures hover outside.

"Harry! What's going on!"

"Quiet," said Harry harshly, "There's something out there."

Suddenly tears began to fall from Tracey's eyes… Harry was surprised. He looked at Daphne and found tears streaming down her eyes too and she was shaking violently. He looked at Blaise who was visibly shivering and looking scared.

But Harry didn't feel anything, he had absolutely no idea what was going on and had no idea what was happening to the others. He heard the train entrance open and heard something come in.

Suddenly his head began to hurt and he could hear a woman screaming distantly.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered but nobody replied. All of them were lost in their own worlds. The black cloaked figure passed their compartment and his head began pounding furiously and he could hear the woman scream louder.

All of a sudden a silver light streaked through the train and all the black cloaked figures glided out of the train avoiding contact with silver light.

As soon as the figures were out of sight Harry's head stopped hurting and the woman's screams stopped too.

He looked around and saw everybody else returning to normal as well.

"What was that?" asked Daphne shakily.

"I think they were Dementors," said Blaise who was trembling.

"Dementors!"

"Yeah, from Azkaban... I think they were looking for Sirius Black."

Harry looked up sharply, but nobody noticed.

"Sirius Black! That escaped murderer!"

"Yeah. Before we left kings cross my dad told me that the Dementors would be guarding Hogwarts this year."

"Why in Merlin's name would Black come to Hogwarts!" asked Tracey.

"He wouldn't say. But he did tell me to stay away from those creatures."

"I felt so cold," said Daphne with a shudder. "I felt like I was never going to be happy again. It was horrible."

"Me too," said Tracey, a shiver running down her spine.

"Did any of you hear a woman screaming?" asked Harry suddenly.

"No, why?" asked Blaise with a frown.

"No reason," muttered Harry, "Just wanted to know."

"You wanted to know if we heard a woman screaming for no reason?" asked Daphne skeptically.

"Yes," answered Harry shortly, effectively shutting her up. But Blaise looked at Harry oddly. He knew Harry generally never asked a question without a reason.

Harry meanwhile was lost in his own thoughts. If none of them had heard someone scream that was it just his imagination? Or was it them who couldn't hear it.

He remembered reading about Dementors and if he remembered correctly Dementors brought out a persons worst memory and sucked out all the happiness from them. If that were true then how come he didn't feel anything but just felt his head hurt and a woman screams.

Was the woman's screams his worst memory! That's absurd, he thought.

His train of thought was broken when the compartment door was opened and a tall man with graying hair entered.

He scanned the compartment and his eyes rest for a little while on Harry. "Is everyone alright in here?" he asked.

Nobody answered.

"It's alright, I'm the new defense professor," he said kindly.

"Everybody's fine professor," said Harry.

"Good. Those creatures which came aboard were Dementors; they were looking for Sirius Black."

"We know," said Harry shortly.

"Oh, not many people can recognize a dementor…..Anyway if any of you have any chocolate on you be sure to have some…. you'll feel much better in an instant…. Now if you'll excuse me I have to check on the rest of the students," he said and went out.

"That's the new defense professor?" said Daphne.

"What about him?" asked Tracey.

"He looks sick," she said.

"And he was dressed on rags," added Tracey.

"But he seems to know what he's doing," said Harry quietly.

"Yeah, whatever…. Let's just hope he doesn't favor the Gryffindor's… coz he sure looks like one," said Daphne causing Tracey and her to erupt into giggles, the experience they just had with the dementors gone from their minds except for one in the compartment.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The train reached hogsmeade station without incident and within fifteen minutes the entire school was sitting in the great hall ready for the sorting ceremony to begin.

The doors to the great hall opened and in came Professor McGonagall followed by a number of tiny new first years.

Professor McGonagall opened the scroll of parchment containing the names of the students and began to call out their names until each and every one of them was sorted.

This year the Slytherin house gained four new members.

As soon as the sorting was over Professor Dumbledore stood up. He cleared his throat and began to speak. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry! Now before we begin the feast I have a few important announcements to make. First of all, all of you must know that Hogwarts will be surrounded by the guards of Azkaban this year. Now I feel this is unnecessary but the minister for magic seems to think they are needed here. I must warn you that these creatures are vicious and heartless beasts and will not hesitate to attack you if you stumble across them. So I implore you not to leave the castle grounds without a teacher."

"Secondly I must introduce our new defense against the dark arts teacher, Professor Remus John Lupin!"

There a loud round of applause particularly from the Gryffindor table and least from the Slytherin. Apparently most of them didn't approve of his clothes.

"Now that all that needs to be said is said, Let the feast begin!"

As soon as the headmaster sat down, all four house tables were filled with a variety of dishes and juices. Every student began to eat with vigor and the entire hall was filled with the sound of students talking and laughing.

Harry looked around and spotted Daphne and Tracey talking to the youngest Weasley animatedly. All three spotted him looking at them and waved towards him cheerily. Harry just rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere.

Those airheads were becoming good friends with the Weasley girl, he thought to himself.

He looked towards the Gryffindor table and saw Granger and Austin busy chatting with the Weasley twins and the Gryffindor ghost. His eyes rested on Austin for a bit and he wondered if she had made any progress in handling her element.

Suddenly there was a flash of lightening in the enchanted ceiling followed by the sound of thunder signaling the end of the feast. Harry quickly gobbled up whatever dessert was left on his plate before it vanished from his plate.

Soon all the students were heading back to their common rooms for a good nights sleep. On his way to the common room, Harry was stopped by his head of house.

"Potter"

"Yes, professor?"

"The headmaster wishes to see you," said Snape.

"Now?"

"Yes, now Potter."

Frowning Harry left the crowd heading towards the common room and followed his head of house to the headmaster's office. There was only one reason for the headmaster wanting to see him and Harry was determined not to tell him anything.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Where are we?**

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Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the character's JK Rowling created do no belong to me except for the characters I created.

* * *

 **Chapter 19 – Where are we?**

"You wanted to see me headmaster?" said Harry, as he entered Dumbledore's office. He took a look around and noticed that a few more weird instruments had been added to the the office.

"Yes, Harry, please take a seat."

Harry quietly sat in front of the headmaster his eyes still wandering about the office. It was obvious why he had been summoned but he had no intention of telling the headmaster anything.

"How are you Harry?" asked Dumbledore pleasantly.

"I'm fine, sir," he said with a fake smile.

"That's good to hear."

"Have I done anything wrong headmaster? I hardly think I could have broken any rules this term."

"No it's not about anything in the castle. It's rather about something outside the castle."

"I don't mean to be rude Professor, but I don't see how that concerns you?"

"I am concerned about the safety of all my students Harry and I have reason to believe you might have had some trouble during your vacation."

"I am not going to tell you where I spent my summer if that's what you want to know professor."

"I am not concerned about where you spent your vacation Harry," Dumbledore said abruptly.

"What?" asked Harry, sounding surprised.

"That's right, what I am concerned is about your use of magic outside Hogwarts and the condition Petunia and Vernon Dursley were found in," he said.

"I don't know what you mean Professor," he replied. "But are my dear relatives alright?" he asked pretending to be concerned.

"Harry, please do not lie to me. I know you attacked your relatives and then obliviated them."

"Obliviate? What's that professor?" asked Harry.

Dumbledore sighed. Harry realized maybe he was pushing the innocent act to far and decided to tone it down a bit.

"I think I remember reading about it somewhere, it was related to something about the memory…."

"Harry, your magical signature was all over the place, I broke into your room and saw the amazing things which at your level should be well beyond your capabilities and I know that what you did was in self defense and I do not blame you. The reason I called you up here was not to reprimand you but to get you to talk to me," said Dumbledore gently.

"What's a magical signature?" asked Harry and this time he honestly had no clue what a magical signature was.

"It's a sign left behind by a wizard. Every time a wizard does magic, he leaves traces of it behind which is unique to him."

"So how do you know the magical signature in Privet drive is mine?"

"I know," said Dumbledore firmly, not keen on sharing that kind of knowledge with Harry.

Harry just remained quiet.

"Now, as I told you before I am not interested in where you stayed or what you did after leaving the Dursley's. But I am concerned about the way you treated the Dursley's when you left. You smashed Vernon Dursley multiple into the television set causing him to suffer a severe spine injury. Then you attacked Marjorie Dursley who now has amnesia due to the head injuries she suffered and then you proceeded to attack your aunt and pierced various parts of her body with _glass pieces!_ Fortunately you did not do any harm to your cousin and finally you obliviated all of them."

Dumbledore said all that in one breath. "Now what I'd like to know is why you attacked your family so violently and mercilessly!"

All this time Harry listened quietly with a slight smile on his face.

"May I ask why you are smiling?"

"Well since we seem to have established the fact that I was the one who attacked the Dursley's with magic, when I am underage and any magic I use will be detected by the ministry… let me assume what you said was true."

Dumbledore was angry at this.

"First of all I don't have any family. All my family members are dead or have been murdered. The Dursley's, to me are just insane muggles who would like nothing more than to kill a wizard in cold blood. They are like Voldemort and will not hesitate, even for an instant if they had the chance to kill us all… Most muggles are like that… only a few would love to be a part of our world. And as for why the brutal attack? Let's just say the provoked me so much that I had no choice but to retaliate and protect myself for those monsters. And as for oblivating them, It would be stupid if I hadn't! They could have easily told everyone that it was me who attacked and I obviously didn't want that. I wanted every trace of my existence to vanish that house! If I had time I would have cleared out my room too."

Dumbledore didn't know what to say. Outside he was perfectly calm but inside he was a little scared. He was afraid of what Harry was becoming. He was sounding, acting and behaving like Tom Riddle when he was young, except Tom wouldn't have told him anything but just smirk at him like Harry was doing now.

"Did the Dursley's attack you first Harry?"

"No," answered Harry.

"Did they hurt you with a muggle device at any point when you attacked them?"

Harry was silent. He could practically feel the pain he had felt when the bullet had pierced his shoulder.

He then looked up and answered, "No."

Clearing his throat Dumbledore looked straight into Harry's eyes and said, "Why do you hate me so much Harry?"

Harry was startled by the question. "I do not hate you professor, I just don't appreciate you interfering in my life when you have no right to do so."

"Harry… you are _thirteen_! You are a not an adult even if you try to act grown up enough to handle your own affairs. You need an adult in your life to guide you along the right path!"

"I don't need an adult to rule my life, I have never needed one and I do not need one ever," he said angrily.

Dumbledore sighed. He had no clue how to deal with Harry at all. "I see…" he said quietly. "But I do hope you think over our talk today and I want you to know that violence is never an answer to your problems. If you do think that way, then you are no better then Tom Riddle and the path you are following now, is the same Tom Riddle followed when he was your age."

Harry stared at Dumbledore absolutely shocked.

"You are a child Harry," said Dumbledore, "And no matter how firmly you believe you don't need an adult to look after you, the truth is that you do. Have a good night Harry."

.

.

.

Dumbledore watched Harry leave with a pained expression on his face.

"That was a very cruel thing you just did Dumbledore," said the portrait of Dippet.

"I agree," said another. "You shouldn't have said that to the child."

"I know what you all are thinking, but trust me. It might get the boy to dislike me even more but he will begin to see the need of an adult in his life. He will be angry at first, then he will think over what I said and then hopefully he will see my point."

"And then what? Will you the adult in his life? The ideal guardian? The one to tell him what to do?" asked Dippet skeptically.

Dumbledore looked straight at the portrait of the Armando Dippet. "The boy's destiny is far too great and so yes I must be the one to guide him. Not because I wish to control him but because he will need my guidance sooner or later."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry walked slowly back to his common room, a lot on his mind after his little talk with Dumbledore. He was still a little shocked that Dumbledore had compared him to Voldemort, a mad man who killed for no reason, killed his parents, hated muggles and wished to exterminate them and enjoyed torturing people.

.

.

.

And he was no better than him!... That's absurd, he thought. He wasn't into the dark arts and he didn't enjoy terrorizing people. He just liked his own company and no one else's. Then why on earth would Dumbledore say he's not better than a mad man? What… because he protected himself and took revenge on the Dursley's?

Harry's confusion turned to anger. How dare Dumbledore suggest something like that! What right does the headmaster have to say such things!

Maybe because he saw the dark lord turn into a dark lord and maybe because the way you acted up there reminded him of Tom Riddle, said a nasty voice in his head.

Immediately Harry calmed down and sighed. He decided to recall his behavior in Dumbledore's office.

He was rude, he lied, he spoke about the Dursley's like they were a reincarnation of Voldemort, his tone was filled with anger and hatred, he was smiling when Dumbledore told him what he did to the Dursley's and he didn't feel a bit sorry for what he did. He refused to listen to a man who undoubtedly was wise and knowledgeable.

.

.

.

Harry sighed again. All Dumbledore said was one sentence and it had unsettled him greatly. What did Dumbledore think? That he would become a dark lord! That he would be tempted to use the dark arts!

He felt both angry and helpless. And for the first time since he had entered the wizarding world Harry felt scared. He felt alone and wished he had his parents back. He wished he didn't have to make all his decisions on his own and he wished he didn't have any responsibilities and he didn't have to get rid of the greatest dark lord of all time.

He didn't know where his feet were taking him but he was surprised to find himself standing at the edge of the lake.

He felt the water rippling gently against his feet giving him a pleasant feeling. He looked up and saw the full moon shining down on him. Lupin must have transformed, he thought absently.

Harry then remembered Sirius and the promise he had made him…. to capture Pettigrew. Suddenly Dumbledore seemed a million miles away! He had to hatch a plan to capture that son of a bitch without causing any suspicion! Remembering Sirius also reminded him about the amount of time Sirius had to spend in Azkaban because of one little rat.

That's right, Harry said to himself. Sirius managed to stay sane and escape only because he knew he was innocent and he was more concerned about Harry than himself. "People may say things about you, but only you know yourself best…." That's what Sirius had told him in his few moments of seriousness. Remembering that thought made all Harry's doubts vanish and make his resolve even stronger. Dumbledore might say whatever he has to but in the end it's what you think of yourself that matters, not what others thing of you. With renewed confidence in himself, Harry walked back to the Slytherin common room.

Dumbledore's plan had partially succeeded for Harry, unknowing had accepted Sirius as the adult in his life.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Hey, Harry! Wake up!"

"Go away," muttered Harry.

"You got 20 minutes until class starts! Time to get up!"

Harry groaned.

"You leave me no choice…," said Blaise and yanked the bed sheet off Harry.

"No, not the bed sheet!" moaned Harry.

"Then you get up you lazy bum!"

.

.

.

"Didn't you find a better way to wake me?" said Harry, irritably, as Blaise and him walked to the great hall.

"Will you stop harping about that already!" said Blaise.

"Well you should have found a better way to wake me…" he grumbled.

"If you remember throwing water doesn't have any effect on you so this is the only way to wake you. You should be grateful that I woke you on the first day back to Hogwarts!"

"Yeah well, I'd rather be sleeping right now."

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Just couldn't," replied Harry.

"Hmm that's smells good," said Blaise as they entered the great hall.

"Yeah, whatever," said Harry.

"Not even your mood swings can spoil the smell of good food, Potter," said Blaise cheerfully.

"I do not have mood swings!" said Harry annoyed.

Just as they were about to finish Professor Snape came up to the table and began handing out the time tables. He paused near Harry, gave him a cold glare and went on ahead.

"Great, just what I need," said Harry, "A pissed of Snape ready to bite my head off at the first chance he gets.

What class do we have first?" he asked Blaise.

"Defense, with Gryffindors," said Blaise.

"And we get to see the Dorks first thing in the morning….. Even better," said Harry and began banging his head on the table.

"Banging your head isn't going to help you. Now let's move we got less than five minutes to get to class."

"I'm pretty sure Lupin is a Gryffindor supporter," said Harry.

"Lupin?"

"The new defense professor. Weren't you listening during the feast?"

"Was too hungry to listen."

"You and Weasley should have been brothers," muttered Harry.

"Oye! That was too low!"

"Yeah you're right, that was low. He'd be your favorite dog."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Remus Lupin was a little nervous before entering the class. It was his first time addressing a large group of students and he was even more nervous and eager to see Lily and James son.

He gathered up his courage and entered the class room.

"Good morning class," he said in his best professor voice.

There was a half hearted response which brought a smile to his face.

"Well I'm your new defense against the dark arts teacher and my name is Professor Remus John Lupin."

"Let's start by taking a roll call."

He tried scanning the room for Harry but he couldn't find him. Dumbledore had said he wore glasses and looked a lot like James but he could find no such person among the Gryffindor students. Surely he wouldn't miss the first day of class!

"Austin Mary Lillian," he called.

"Yes sir."

.

.

.

"Granger Jane Hermione"

"Yes sir."

Slowly it went on until he came to the name he was waiting for.

"Potter James Harry."

"Yes sir," came a voice from his left.

He looked up and was surprised and shocked to see a boy in Slytherin answer the call. He wasn't wearing glasses, he had a little long shaggy hair _and_ … and he resembled James!

His shock must have shown on his face because half the class was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

A few thought he was gawking at the famous Harry Potter. But only Harry knew why the professor was shocked. He hadn't even considered that Harry might be in a house other than Gryffindor.

Lupin finished the roll call and took a deep breath.

The class began removing their books but Lupin stopped them.

"Please put your books away and remove your wands," he said. "You will only need your wands today."

The entire class began to talk in excitement. They had never had a practical on the first day of class barring the disastrous last year of course.

"Follow me," said Lupin.

Slowly all the students moved out of the class making a lot of sound and chattering excitedly. Each one wondering what they were about to be doing. Were they going to duel? Or just learn some silly spell? Or perhaps an amazing spell!

Harry himself was extremely curious to know whether Lupin was going to be a good teacher or was he going to be like the others before him. From what Sirius had told him, Lupin was a bookworm during his time in school and was always buried in some book or the other. But when it came to pranks, he was the guy who planned them out perfectly!

"All right all of you," said Lupin suddenly, "Get in."

Lupin had taken them to the teachers lounge. Only professor Snape was there in the room, sitting in one corner reading a book.

"Ah, Severus," said Lupin politely "Do you mind if I borrow this room for a bit."

Snape looked up with a sneer on his face. "Not at all Lupin," he said and stood up. On his way out he stopped and turned back. "Just what is it you plan to do here anyway?"

"A practical class," said Lupin "Needed a bigger room."

Snape smirked and looked at the students behind Lupin. His gaze fell on Neville and his smirk broadened.

"Well whatever you do, make sure you keep Longbottom away from his wand. The boy is a walking disaster."

Neville paled but Lupin just smiled. "Well I was planning to use him in my first demonstration and I'm sure he'll perform admirably." Hearing that Neville turned paler.

Snape just sneered disdainfully and walked out of the room banging the door as he went out.

Lupin let out a sigh. "Well now that the air seems a bit cleaner let us begin."

The Gryffindor's began to laugh and even Neville let out a feeble smile. The Slytherin's just scowled at the professor.

"All right, now who knows what a Boggart is?"

Hermione Granger's hand shot up like a rocket.

"Yes Ms. Granger?"

"It is a creature which lives it the dark. Nobody knows what it looks like because it takes the shape of your worst fear when you confront one!"

"Excellent," said Lupin "Take 5 points to Gryffindor."

"Wonder if her arm will shoot out of her body one day," muttered Blaise. Harry and Draco sniggered.

Unfortunately Lupin saw them and frowned.

"Perhaps Mr. Potter can tell us the spell to repel a Boggart."

Harry looked up lazily and said, "Riddikulus."

"Correct, take 5 points to Slytherin," he said.

"Now we know what a Boggart is and how to repel it. When you are confronted by a Boggart you must imagine your worst fear to be something funny and say the spell. This will change the boggart's form to something you're not afraid of and it will retreat. But only laughter can truly defeat a Boggart."

"Can anyone tell me what problem the Boggart will face in this room?" he asked. "Yes, Ms. Austin?"

"Err; because there are so many of us… it won't know what form to take?"

"Excellent! Another five points to Gryffindor!"

"Now repeat after me… Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus," the class chanted.

"Again!"

"Riddikulus"

"Now how many of you are ready to face the thing you fear!"

There was sudden silence in the class. Suddenly almost everyone was looking fearful.

Harry too didn't know what to say. He had no idea what he feared. He wondered whether it was a good thing to know what you feared or was it better not to know.

"Now come on! Don't be scared! Now Neville, please come up here. I would like you to handle the Boggart."

"10 Galleons say's he pees in his pants," whispered Harry.

"30 Galleons say's he dies of fear," said Draco.

"Are you ready Neville?"

"No," he said fearfully.

"Hmmm…. What do you fear most Neville?" asked Lupin.

Neville muttered something.

"Sorry? Could you say that louder?"

"Professor Snape," whispered Neville.

The entire class burst out laughing. The Slytherin's were laughing so hard that a few of them fell to the floor. But Lupin was looking thoughtful.

"I believe you live with your grandmother Neville?"

"Yes, but I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either!"

"No, no, you misunderstood me. What does your grandmother wear usually?"

"Erm, a vulture kind of hat, with red robes and a big red handbag," he said, looking slightly confused.

"Now could you imagine Professor Snape in those clothes?"

The Gryffindor's roared in delight while the Slytherin's protested loudly.

This is what happens when they put the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's together thought Lupin.

"Alright, all of you quiet!" he yelled.

Slowly the noise levels went down. The Gryffindor's were looking pleased and the Slytherin's mutinous.

"Now Neville, when I let the Boggart out of that compartment, I want you concentrate hard on the image of Professor Snape in your grandmother's clothes and say Riddikulus pointing your wand at the Boggart."

Neville nodded nervously.

"Alright, ready? One two three!" he said and unlocked a trunk kept in one corner and backed away.

The trunk shook violently and the lid opened. A particularly menacing looking Snape came out and began walking towards Neville whose knees were shaking violently.

"Riddikulus!" he squeaked and Boggart Snape was redressed into a Snape wearing red lipstick, with a large red handbag, a vulture top hat and a womanly looking dress!

The class dissolved into laughter once again. Even few of the Slytherins could not keep the smiles of their faces.

"Excellent," roared Lupin, "Parvati forward!"

The Boggart changed into a rat. "Riddikulus," she yelled and the rat began barking and chasing its own tail.

"Greengrass!"

The Boggart turned into a bald Daphne. Daphne screamed but some how managed to say Riddikulus changing the Boggart into a Dumbledore without hair.

"Thomas!"

The hairless Dumbledore became a hand crawling on the floor. Then there was a banshee screaming, then there was an eyeball floating in the air, it turned into medusa next and then into a terminator when Seamus was made into confront it.

"We're getting there!" yelled Lupin, "Zabini!"

Blaise went forward and there was a jet of fire rushing towards him. His eyes widened in fear as he yelled Riddikulus. The fire turned into water and splashed harmlessly on the floor.

"Brown!" called Lupin and the Boggart changed into a frog like lavender.

Harry was impatiently waiting for his turn when he heard Ron say take of its legs continuously and couldn't help but wonder what was he afraid of? He was about to find out when Lupin called out Ron's name.

The Boggart changed into a gigantic spider. Half the girls screamed and backed away.

"Riddikulus," yelled Ron and the spider suddenly lost its legs and rolled towards Harry. The legless spider stopped near Harry and was about to change bur Professor Lupin intervened.

"Allow me!" he said and the Boggart changed into an orb floating in the air surrounded by a mist.

"Riddikulus," he said almost lazily and the orb began loosing air and kept whizzing around the room. "Finish it Neville," he yelled.

This time Neville walked ahead confidently. The Boggart changed back into Snape but Neville yelled the spell and the class got a view of the womanly Snape before Neville let out a great ha and the Boggart vanished.

"Excellent everybody! 5 points to whoever had a round with the Boggart and an extra 10 for Neville for doing an amazing job finishing the Boggart. Next class I want an 11 inch essay on Boggart's. That's all for today!"

As soon as everyone was out they began discussing about the gross things the Boggart had turned into.

Did you see that severed hand! Did you see that huge spider! And so on.

All in all, it was quite a successful first class for Professor Remus Lupin.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry came out of the class looking a bit peeved.

"What's up with you?" asked Blaise. "It was pretty damn good class wasn't it?"

"He didn't let me have a go with the Boggart," said Harry.

"So?"

"I wanted to see what I was afraid of."

"You don't know what you're scared of?"

"Well… as of now, I really don't know what would scare me," admitted Harry. "I sure there must be something I'm scared of but I don't know what it is."

"So in 13 years, you haven't found anything that truly scares you!"

"There used to be things I was afraid of but they amuse me now."

"Hmmm…. Harry Potter, the boy who lived who doesn't fear anything! Tomorrows headlines," said Blaise laughing.

"Ha, ha, very funny," said Harry sarcastically.

Harry was about to say something when he was Austin, Granger and Weasley. "I'll meet you in the common room," he told Blaise "I've got something to do," he said and turned back.

"What? Wait! Harry!"

"I'll meet you in the common room," Harry yelled and vanished around the next bend.

He quickly caught up with the Gryffindor trio and was mentally berating himself for not being able to think of another way to get the rat.

"Hey, Austin," he called out.

All three turned and were shocked and surprised to see Harry to be the one calling Lillian.

"What do you want Potter," spat Ron.

"A word Freckles? Without your two buddies," he said.

Lillian crossed her arms. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you when you get rid of carrot top and the beaver.

Ron turned red but Hermione just ignored him.

"Whatever you can say, you can say in front of them," she said coolly.

"Well I'm afraid I can't say what I have to say in front of them. And if you can't get rid of them, then I'm afraid you're loosing an opportunity improve something we have in common," he said.

"Improve what!" asked Hermione sharply.

"Our snogging skills," answered Harry smoothly.

Lillian gasped in outrage. Hermione's mouth dropped open and Ron began spluttering…. "Snogging! You both…"

"Of course not!" said Lillian indignantly "Are you crazy!"

"I'm giving you 10 seconds to consider and then I'm out of here," said Harry.

"No wait," said Lillian hurriedly "Could you please go Hermione, Ron, I'll meet you in the common room."

"You want to snog him!" yelled Ron.

Lillian sighed irritably, "I'll explain everything latter. Now could you please take Ron and go Hermione…. Please?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Alright, but you better tell us what he says latter," she said.

"Sure, sure, now go, she said, relived.

Once they had gone she turned back to Harry. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Got rid of them, didn't I?"

She just growled. "What the hell do you want!"

"If I ask you will you do it?"

"Depends on what it is," she said, huffing.

"I want Weasley's rat," he said.

"Sorry? I didn't hear you right."

"You heard me just fine. I said I want Weasley's rat."

Lillian was confused. "I thought you wanted to talk to me about our elemental skills?"

"That's what you get in return for bringing me carrot tops rat," he said simply.

"I am so confused right now," she muttered.

"That's because you're dumb."

"Never asked your opinion," she snapped.

"So what's your answer?"

"Why the hell do you want Ron's rat?" she asked.

"To perform experiments on it," he said seriously.

Lillian just stared at him.

"Let me get this straight," she said, "You want me to get you Ron's rat, Scabbers and in exchange you're willing to help me improve my elemental skills? …. …. Did I miss something?"

"You didn't miss anything. You heard everything just fine," said Harry "I told you I'd be willing to help you develop your abilities in exchange for Weasley's rat! How hard is that to understand?"

"Do you know how ridiculous that sound! It's like giving a fortune away in exchange for a Knut!"

"That's my offer," said Harry, shrugging "Take it or leave it."

Lillian sighed "Every time I talk to you, I always seem to get a headache."

"That's good to know," he said, amused. "Maybe if you'd give me an answer soon, I'd be on way before I get a headache listening to your voice."

Lillian shot him a scathing look which had absolutely no effect on Harry. "I know you never do anything without reason and I want to know why you want that rat so bad, that you'd be willing to help me."

"My reasons are my own. Maybe I'll tell you if you bring me the rat. Now please stop asking me questions and give me an answer… yes or no."

"How do I know you'll keep your word?"

"You just have to trust me," said Harry with a smirk.

Lillian scoffed, "Trust you! That'll be the day and as for your offer, my answer is no. I don't betray my friends just to get a dumb Slytherin have some fun with a rat."

Harry groaned inward. "Listen… Weasley doesn't even care about that rat and I'll give it back to you if I end up not needing it."

"You listen too, Potter. I don't steal from my friends behind their backs. If you want that rat so bad, you're going to have to find another way," she said firmly. "So don't think you can bribe me into hurting one of my own friends."

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. Why couldn't she just agree? He thought.

"Listen, I don't want that rat to dissect it or crap like that. I'll tell you the real reason if you get that _god damn rat!_ "

"Real reason?"

"Yes, real reason. Did you really think I'd want that idiot's rat just to piss him off? Well if you did you really don't know me. I am offering to help you improve your ability if you get me that rat and believe me if you don't give me an answer now, I'm going to walk away and look for other means to get to that rat. In the end I won't be loosing anything it'll be you who will be at a loss in the end…! So tell me do accept my proposition or not?"

Lillian frowned and bit her lower lip. To be honest she knew he was right and she knew Harry was much better at controlling his element than she was and she would certainly learn a lot from him.

"Fine," she snapped.

Harry shouted victory in his head!

"But under one condition," she added.

The shouts of victory stopped. "What?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'll try to get you the rat only after you show me what you can do with your element and whether you helping me is really worth it or not."

Harry gave it a few minutes thought and then said, "Fine."

Lillian gave a victorious smile but suddenly she looked worried.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Where will we practice? I don't want anybody catching me hanging out with you!"

"Leave that to me freckles. It's not like I want to be seen around with you. I'm only doing this for that rat."

"What's so important about Scabbers anyway?"

"Get him to me and I'll show," he said and walked away.

"What a grouch," muttered Lillian and headed back to the common room. She had a story to make up and a plan to get Scabbers without Ron realizing it.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was after dinner when Harry decided to scout the castle for a place big enough for Lillian and him to meet in secret. He wondered why he had asked for her help when he could have got that rat by many other efficient ways. He didn't ponder much over it as he reached the second floor corridor.

He had decided to check the chamber of secrets. He hadn't gone down the tunnel so far and it might have enough space to practice with Freckles too.

He headed into Moaning Myrtles bathroom and hissed _open_ in Parseltongue. Like before the sink began to spin and sunk out of sight revealing a hollow pipe.

Taking a deep breath Harry sat down and slid into the pipe. He gasped as he began to fall. He kept going faster and faster until he was suddenly thrown out of the pipe and slammed into a hard surface.

He groaned and slowly stood up. His head was spinning and hurting like he was just run over by the knight bus.

"Didn't Slytherin have a better way of getting down here?" he muttered and began to look around.

"Lumos," he said, igniting his wand to light up the area. It looked like he was in some kind of an underground cave, probably under the lake too.

Taking a deep breath he began to walk ahead. The place stank and was littered with tiny bones which were probably once rats. Every now and then he spotted bones too big to belong to a rat.

After walking for 10 minutes, he finally came across a huge wall with two huge statues beside it. One was of a man, probably Slytherin and the other was of a women.

"Wonder if that's his wife," he said staring at the statue. He hissed open in Parseltongue again and the slowly shimmered out of existence. Harry's eyes shot up in awe at the display of magic.

Once the wall had vanished, Harry stepped into the chamber of secrets with a shiver of excitement running down his back.

As soon as he stepped inside, the wall reappeared and Harry found himself standing in a large room with a very high ceiling. There were a number of pillars all around and another statue of Slytherin in the corner. There was a snake like mouth protruding out of the wall to the left of Slytherin's statue and Harry assumed that's where the basilisk came out from.

Harry wondered if there was any way of lighting up the chamber but found none. He slowly began to scan the whole chamber, looking for any way further or any hidden rooms. He was convinced that Slytherin would have had a secret room full of his personal books or diaries or things like that… or he rather hoped it was true. He didn't want to have come down to the chamber for nothing!

An hour later Harry was frustrated, he had found nothing and he was dirty and smelly. He raised his arm and sent a blast of ice at the statue of Slytherin. The ice slammed into the statue breaking it into a number of pieces.

But then, to Harry's shock and surprise, the broken pieces of the statue began to move towards each other and the statue began to reform itself.

In a few seconds the entire statue was back to its original shape and didn't look as it were damaged at all!

Harry quickly moved to the statue and began examining it from all angles. He couldn't reach up so he took a deep breath and began to conjure large amounts of water and then quickly froze it forming a crude staircase and began to check the statue further. Suddenly while running his hands over the right hand of the statue he found a depression in the middle finger of the right hand.

It was the size of a ring. The size of the ring Harry had in his pocket. It was the size of Slytherin's ring.

Trembling with excitement Harry removed the ring from his robes and slipped it on the finger. It slid in perfectly and fit in the depression.

A red glow began to emit from the ring and the statue began to sink into the ground revealing a door behind it.

Harry slid down his make shift staircase and stood it front of the door. It had a handprint in place of the handle and the instant Harry saw that, he knew that only a person belonging to the Slytherin bloodline could enter that room.

All his excitement and hopes were crushed. He was 99 percent sure he didn't have an ounce of Slytherin's blood in him. But there was always a 1 percent chance he did.

Slowly he raised his arm towards the door knowing he was taking a huge risk which could probably get him killed but his curiosity to open the door and see the secrets of Slytherin won over his usual cautiousness.

He placed his hand on the handprint on the door and held his breath. . . . . . Nothing happened. Disappointed he tried to remove his hand but it wouldn't budge!

Suddenly his hand began to hurt and he was flung back at full force away from the door. He slammed into the wall at other end and slid down to the floor.

"That was a big mistake," he muttered to himself. Groaning he slowly stood up and straightened his back and cried out, as waves of pain shot through his back.

"Got to visit Madam Pomfrey," he gasped in pain.

He slowly walked back to the statue which had risen out of the ground and removed the ring.

He decided to go back to his dorm and crash into bed. There was no use staying in the chamber any longer with a hurt back and no means to open the door he wanted to.

He reached the pipe and closed his eyes for a moment. Slowly water began to pool under his feet and began to rise taking him along with it. It kept rising faster and faster taking him through the pipe and back into the girl's bathroom.

Somehow Harry made it to the Slytherin common room without his invisibility cloak, cast a quick scroufigy charm over him and soon fell asleep.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next few days passed by quite normally and Harry hadn't had a chance to speak to Lillian about their deal considering the amount of homework they were being given, which Harry thought was a complete waste of his time. Professor Snape seemed to have developed an intense hatred towards Professor Lupin which was evident every time the two professors passed by each other. Lupin would greet him with a polite hello and Snape would just sneer at him.

Malfoy and his cronies had told Snape about their first defense class and poor Neville seemed to be having an increased number of accidents in the potions lab which lead to more loss of points for the Gryffindor's and more number of detentions for Neville.

It was on a Friday when the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's were leaving a charms class together when Harry decided to get a hold of Lillian for their first meet up.

"Hey Austin," he called out as she left the class "A word?"

"Sure," she replied, shooing her friends away.

"You're talking to him again?" hissed Ron angrily.

"Go away Ron, its nothing important. I'll tell you all about it later… … Hermione, please knock some sense into this idiot," she said exasperatedly.

But Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd she go?" asked Ron, "She was right here!"

"Maybe she heard me and took off instead of making a scene!" she said and walked towards Harry.

"Meet me at Moaning Myrtles bathroom at 9.00 tonight. Don't be late," he said.

"Why Myrtles bathroom!"

"Have you thought of anyway to get Weasley's rat?" he asked her, ignoring her question.

"I've thought of a few," she said evasively.

"Really?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Yeah!"

"Well, I'm going to listen to your plan tonight and I pray it's a good one."

"It's a brilliant one."

"Yeah right," muttered Harry under his breath.

Lillian looked over Harry's shoulder and saw Hermione running towards her.

"What's Hermione doing there?" she wondered. "I thought she was on her way to the common room."

Harry saw Hermione trying to tuck something into her robes while she was hurrying towards them. He saw Draco stick his leg out and send the bushy haired girl sprawling on the floor and whatever she was trying to put back inside flew out of her hand and smashed next to Harry and Lillian covering them with dust.

"What the hell?" said Harry and began to brush the dust off him looking irritated.

He took out his wand and was about to cast a cleaning spell when Hermione screamed "NO DON'T!"

But it was too late, Harry cast the spell and there was loud bang and the entire corridor was covered in smoke.

When the smoke cleared everyone seemed to be fine but Harry and Lillian were nowhere to be seen!

Hermione shakily got to her feet and stared at the spot Harry and Lillian vanished.

She then looked up and said, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As soon as Harry said the spell, the dust immediately exploded. Harry and Lillian felt like they were suddenly thrown into the air if the feeling of weightlessness of any indication and just as that feeling came, it had gone. The smoke cleared and they found they were standing in the same place except for one minor problem.

There was nobody else around.

"Where'd everybody go?" asked Lillian shakily.

"I think you should be asking where'd we vanish to," said Harry with a troubled look on his face.

Both the students looked at each other with the same question running through their heads.

"Where were they?"


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter - 20 - Arrival**

Hermione was in shock. She couldn't what had just happened. She just stared at the spot Mary and Potter had disappeared and she knew it was all her fault. She was sure that somehow Mary and Potter had traveled back in time and they were stuck there forever.

"What is going on here!" came the sharp voice of Dumbledore.

Hermione looked at the headmaster and tears began to pool in her eyes, "It's all my fault professor."

"What happened Ms. Granger?" asked Dumbledore.

"I... I tripped and it broke… … I… I don't know how it happened."

Dumbledore realized she was in shock. "All of you please return to your classes immediately," he said to all the students crowding around, trying to get a glimpse of what happened. "You too Mr. Malfoy," he said to Draco who hadn't moved an inch.

"Ms. Granger, follow me," he said and took her to his office.

Once they had reached his office he made her sit and conjured some hot chocolate and biscuits.

He threw some floo into the fire place and called for professor McGonagall.

"Yes headmaster?" said McGonagall coming out of the fire place.

"There seems to have been an accident professor."

"What kind of accident?" she asked sharply.

"One involving Ms Granger, Ms Austin and Mr. Potter … About fifteen minutes back Mr. Longbottom came rushing to my office and went on and on about Mr. Potter and Ms. Austin vanishing after something slipped from Ms Granger's hand," he said.

McGonagall turned to Hermione and placed her hand on her shoulder. "What happened Ms. Granger?" she asked kindly.

"It was the time turner professor. I slipped and it broke near Mary. And then… and then they were gone and it's all my fault," she said and broke down sobbing.

Dumbledore stood up sharply and McGonagall looked shocked.

"Albus!"

"How did they disappear Ms Granger?" asked Dumbledore "Did any one cast a spell on them when the time turner dust fell on them!"

"Potter… he cast a cleaning spell and then there was a bang and they were gone," she said sniffing.

"Minerva, please take Ms. Granger to the hospital wing and ask Poppy to give her a sleeping draught. I will go to the corridor where it happened and see if there is anything I can do."

"Albus, where are they?"

"If the time turner worked like a normal time turner does, they are stuck in the past and we don't know how long back in the past."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry and Lillian walked down the corridor they went through almost everyday and yet they felt so out place.

"Where is everybody?" asked Lillian for the hundredth time.

"I told you god damn it! I don't know!"

"Let's go find the headmaster, maybe he'd know what happened," said Lillian.

"Maybe," said Harry, "Unless he too disappeared mysteriously."

They met no one on their way to the headmaster's office and before they knew it they were standing in front of the gargoyles guarding Dumbledore's office.

"Err… could you please let us in," said Lillian, "We'd like to see the headmaster."

"Students!" croaked the gargoyle in surprise. "Hardly ever seen one during the summer break"

"Summer!" cried out Lillian in shock.

"Have you lost your stone brain gargoyle!" snapped Harry. "Summer got over almost a month ago. Now let us through."

"Maybe you have lost your marbles boy. I am a magical creature and I'm never wrong. Now go back from where you came from, the headmaster is not here."

"Why you little…" muttered Harry furiously and drew out his wand. Immediately Harry collapsed and clutched his head moaning.

"Potter!" cried Lillian, "What happened!"

"Argh... can't you hear it!" gasped Harry, "Ahhh…!" A loud ringing noise was blasting through Harry's head.

"It won't stop!" groaned Harry collapsing on the ground.

"What did you do to him!" Lillian screamed at the gargoyle.

"I did nothing."

"Make it stop," gasped could hear his wand screaming along with the ringing noise. He could not make out what it was saying but he somehow felt he should conceal his wand immediately else something bad would happen.

There was a flash of light and the noise stopped. Panting Harry looked at the back of his right hand and saw the wand was once more just a symbol on the back of his hand.

"What happened!" asked Lillian again, looking concerned.

"Nothing," said Harry not knowing himself what had just happened.

"Nothing!" said Lillian incredulously. "You just felt like holding your head and kept saying 'make it stop' just because for the fun of it or was it to freak me out even more than I already am!"

"Maybe both," said Harry indifferently and turned back to the gargoyle.

"You son of a …!" Lillian began but never got to finish as the gargoyle suddenly jumped aside and revealed Professor Dumbledore standing behind.

"Professor!" cried Lillian in relief.

Dumbledore's eyes widened it surprise at the two students in front of him.

"Harry!"

"Yeah it's me professor," said Harry.

Dumbledore still looked like he was in shock and Harry began to feel a little uneasy. Suddenly he felt something was terribly wrong.

"What happened to you!" asked Dumbledore, "And what in Merlin's name are you doing here!"

"What do you mean what happened to me? I'm perfectly fine. And am I supposed to be somewhere else?"

"I… …" Dumbledore didn't know what to say. "Never a good thing," thought Harry.

"Harry," began Dumbledore slowly, "Why do you look like you're thirteen again?"

"I'm sorry, what!" asked Harry. He glanced at Lillian and she looked as confused as ever.

"Professor, are you alright?"

"Harry, which year is it?" asked Dumbledore, looking extremely serious.

"1993… … Why?"

Dumbledore took a sharp intake of breath.

"Professor, what's wrong?" asked Lillian.

Dumbledore looked at Lillian. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" he asked politely.

"I'm Lillian Mary Austin sir. From Gryffindor house?" she said nervously.

Even Harry looked extremely unsettled. He knew for a fact that Dumbledore knew everyone in the castle and there wasn't a single student whose name he didn't know.

"Ah yes, of course," he muttered. "Please follow me back to my office would you," he said and turned back and headed up the stairs leading to his office.

"What the hell is going on?" whispered Lillian. "How on earth did he forget who I am?"

"I have no clue," muttered Harry. They entered Dumbledore's office and took a seat at the headmaster's gesture. Harry took a look around the office and realized nothing had changed since his last visit and somehow he felt relief at that thought.

"Find anything different Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"No sir," replied Harry. "Everything's the same I guess."

"I see…" said Dumbledore. "Anyway Harry, Ms. Austin, do you remember the last thing that happened to you, before you met me?"

"Well, Potter and I were talking when we saw Hermione running," began Lillian before Harry could even open his mouth. "Then that _Malfoy_ tripped her and something slipped out of hands and broke near my feet. Then Potter here did some spell and everything went black and when color returned to the world everybody was _gone!"_

Lillian said all this in one breath.

Dumbledore looked amused and Harry looked irritated.

"And this is your third year… correct?"

"What do you think?" snapped Harry.

Dumbledore was taken aback.

"Watch it Potter, you're talking to the headmaster!" hissed Lillian. "Yes, headmaster, this is our third year," she said hastily.

Harry was about to snap back at Lillian when Dumbledore cut through.

"Thank you Ms. Austin."

"Why are you acting like you don't know us professor?" asked Harry.

"Because I don't," said Dumbledore.

"What?"

"I don't know you Ms. Austin and as far as I know you are not in Hogwarts and I don't know you Harry, but I do know another Harry who is entering his fifth year and is now spending his summer break at number four Privet Drive, Surrey."

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Harry, Lillian, it is my belief that you have by accident traveled into an alternate dimension."

There was utter silence in the room. The wind stopped blowing, the Earth had stopped revolving and time came to a standstill.

Harry and Lillian stared at the headmaster, their mouths open.

"In other words, you are in a different universe but the same world, with the same people in it… with minor differences," he said with a glance at Lillian.

"That's impossible," whispered Harry.

"Magic itself is said to be impossible by muggles. Yet here we are doing things they can only dream of! Magic is so mysterious that one cannot even imagine what is possible or not!"

"Or this is just a game you're playing or you're just testing me or trying to brainwash me!" said Harry, raising his voice.

"Harry!" cried Lillian.

"I am telling you the truth Harry, you can trust me," said Dumbledore looking concerned and alarmed at Harry's anger and mistrust.

"How do I know you're telling the truth!" said Harry, backing away to the door.

"Harry! Please stop. I can give you proof!"

"Stay away from me!" yelled Harry and summoned his wand.

That was a mistake.

The ringing sound came back with a vengeance. This time it was so loud that Harry immediately collapsed clutching his head and rolling on the ground groaning in pain.

"Harry!" cried Dumbledore. "What's wrong with him Ms. Austin!"

"I don't know!" said Lillian fearfully.

There was a flash of white light and Harry's wand vanished but Harry did not get up.

"Harry… _Harry!_ "

"Is he alright professor?" asked Lillian.

"He's lost consciousness," said Dumbledore looking grave.

"Professor?"

"Yes"

"Are we really in an alternate universe or is this just a dream?" she asked hoping against hope that it was just a silly dream.

"I'm afraid not Ms. Austin," he said seriously. "I wouldn't joke when it comes to such serious matters. Though I am concerned as to what happened to Mr. Potter."

"It happened to him before you met us near the gargoyle. But he didn't lose consciousness then."

"Do you know why?"

"No professor," she replied while Dumbledore conjured a stretcher and placed Harry on it.

"He doesn't trust anyone does he?"

"Not at all," said Lillian with a laugh. "But that's how all Slytherins are. They don't trust anyone."

"Slytherin!" said Dumbledore in surprise.

"Yeah, Potter's in Slytherin. Why does that surprise you?"

Dumbledore was stunned. "In this world Harry is a Gryffindor."

This time Lillian was stunned, "Not possible," she said, "This guy is total Slytherin from top to bottom, inside out! There's no way he could be a Gryffindor!"

"Looks like our worlds are quite different after all Ms. Austin," said Dumbledore taking notice of the Slytherin crest on Harry's shirt for the first time with a troubled look in his eyes.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

.

.

.

"So in your world Ginny managed to fight the diary and the professor's came and managed to finish of the basilisk and destroy the diary?"

"And Ginny is also a Slytherin in our world," added Lillian.

"Ginny Weasley is a Slytherin! Now how in Merlin's name did that happen?"

"What happened in this world?" asked Lillian.

"Well the first year was similar to yours except you probably don't exist in this world or you're not a witch."

"Oh," muttered Lillian in a small voice. That was certainly unsettling to hear.

"Anyhow, Harry, Ronald and Hermione become best friends."

"What!"

"Yes," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, "Harry was sorted to Gryffindor not Slytherin. And those three together have an uncanny knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Like me," said Lillian, with a smile.

"Like you," agreed Dumbledore. "They saved the philosophers stone in their first year much like what you and this Harry did in your world," he said glancing at Harry, who was lying in the hospital wing still unconscious.

"But in their second year Harry found out he was a Parselmouth and Ginny was possessed by the diary same as your world. But here Harry and Ronald found the entrance to the Slytherin's chamber and went down to save Ginny dragging Gilderoy Lockhart with them."

"They went alone? Without calling for help!"

"Yes, but sadly Lockhart tried memory charming them both but failed. His curse backfired and he lost all his memories. Harry then went on alone to the chamber and fought the spirit of the diary and the basilisk alone."

Lillian's mouth dropped open. "He tried to take on a basilisk alone!"

Dumbledore chuckled, "He had some help though, in the form of the sorting hat and my phoenix Fawkes helped him. Fawkes punctured the basilisk's eyes and Harry was able to summon Gryffindor's sword from the depths of the sorting hat and with it he managed to slay the basilisk, then destroy the diary and save Ginny."

"Your Harry… is he crazy or does he have an insatiable lust for danger?"

"I prefer to call it a saving people thing."

"Wow, I know what this Harry would have done," she said.

"What?"

"Use some weird spell to chop the basilisk into a gazillion pieces and then mutilate the diary so that it can never be used again or he would destroy the diary and somehow make the basilisk obey his command."

"You talk like it would be a piece of cake for him to actually do that."

"I don't know about your Harry headmaster, but this Harry is unusually powerful for his age. Nobody would dare cross him, that's the kind of reputation he's created for himself in the Gryffindor house and probably every other house."

"What about his personality?" asked Dumbledore quietly.

"Cold and indifferent to everything going on around him, doesn't like to show off, prefers to be alone. Does what he believes is right and no one else's views would matter to him. But if a person desperately needs help, he would help them even if it were a Gryffindor. Spends most of his time in the library researching god knows what and has an way of knowing spells no one has ever heard of."

Dumbledore was silent. He didn't like what he was hearing. It was like Harry was a cross between the Harry of his world and Tom Riddle too. It was like this Harry was standing in the centre of two paths. One leading down the path of Tom Marvolo Riddle and one leading down a path of greatness if what Lillian said about him was true.

"Looks like he's coming around professor," said Lillian suddenly. She was right. Harry eyes fluttered open and squinted through the dim light.

"What happened?" asked Harry groggily.

"We were hoping you could tell us Harry," said Dumbledore.

Harry looked up and took a look around him. He realized he was in the hospital wing.

"Donno," replied Harry. "One moment I am in your office and next I wake up here."

"Harry, you collapsed in my office and by the looks of it, it seemed like you were in great pain."

"I was!" said Harry in mock surprise, "Well, I don't seem to remember any of it. Last thing I remember was you spinning some tales about alternate dimensions."

"I wasn't spinning any tales Harry- you can ask Ms. Austin if you like."

Harry looked at her.

"It's true," she said solemnly. "I saw the date on today's daily prophet and its July 1995. Professor Dumbledore also showed me the trophy room too and your name is there in the fifth year boy's dorm in Gryffindor and… and I don't seem to exist."

Harry rubbed his forehead, "When if it were true, how did we end up here!"

"I believe I can answer that," said Dumbledore.

"Please do."

"This is your third year, correct?"

"Yes."

"In this world, in your third year Ms. Hermione Granger was given a time turner to attend more classes than possible by normal standards.

You said that something slipped from Ms. Granger's hands when she was running and it broke near you correct?"

Harry and Lillian merely nodded.

"And after that happened, Harry you did a spell to get yourself clean."

Harry nodded again.

"Considering how unstable the sand inside the time turner is and combined with the cleaning spell you used, instead of traveling back or forth in time, you were transported to a parallel universe two years ahead of your own."

"You're saying that Granger was given a time turner to attend all her classes, which, by the way is supposed to be an extremely dangerous device in the untrained hand and because of her stupidity we pay the price and end up in a different universe!" said Harry.

"So you believe me now when I say you are in a different universe?"

"Of course not, I'm just trying to understand what all you just babbled."

Dumbledore frowned at Harry's rudeness but Harry took no notice of it.

"What proof do you have?" demanded Harry.

Dumbledore sighed, "Do you want me to show you your counter part living in Privet Drive right now? Or do you want to meet your other friends whom to your surprise would look much older and probably thing you are crazy to believe they are your friends."

"Why would they think I am crazy?"

"Because you are in Gryffindor in this world and I am sure you know that Gryffindor's and Slytherin's hate each other by principle. Judging by the crest on your shirt, you are a Slytherin and in this world your friends are probably your enemies."

Harry was silent.

"You seriously believe I am in a different universe?"

"I don't believe, I know. I know for a fact that Harry Potter is a Gryffindor and is almost fifteen years old now. I also know for a fact that no one by the name Lillian Mary Austin has attended Hogwarts."

"So if you are telling the truth, how do we get back?" asked Harry, grudgingly accepting that Dumbledore was telling the truth.

"I don't know," said Dumbledore "There have been many theories about parallel dimension traveling but no one has ever been able to prove it. It has remained more of fiction then fact… that is, until you arrived here."

"But you have to find a way to get us back! We can't stay here. I mean there's another me here and obviously no one can know!"

"I know that Harry, but how are we supposed do something that no one has ever done before?"

"We came here when we cast a spell on the sand on us. Maybe we can do the same again and we'll go back."

"I thought of that, but if that were true you could end up in another universe which is not your own and you could forever be stuck looking for your own universe out of the millions that could be there!"

"You don't understand!" hissed Harry, "I _have_ to go back!"

"Believe me Harry I want you to go back as much as you want to get back. But it will take time."

Harry huffed and clenched his fists.

"Now we have to arrange for a place you can stay and make sure Voldemort doesn't find out about this," said Dumbledore.

"Voldemort!" gasped Harry and Lillian.

"Oh dear, I forgot," muttered Dumbledore "You are two years behind this world after all."

"Voldemort's back!" demanded Harry.

"Yes," said Dumbledore solemnly "He came back this summer. You were there when it happened, I mean your counterpart was there when it happened."

"I was there and I did nothing about it?" said Harry incredulously.

"We will discuss this later Harry. Now we have to make a temporary accommodation for the two of you until we find a way to get you back."

Dumbledore then took out a piece of paper from his pocket and began to write something on it.

"Read this," he said, giving the piece of paper to Lillian and Harry.

"The headquarters of the order of the phoenix can be found at number 12 Grimmauld place."

"Grimmauld place!" said Harry with surprise. "That's Sirius's house!"

"You know about Sirius?" asked Dumbledore, surprised again.

"Err… You aren't talking about Sirius Black, the mass murderer are you?" asked Lillian nervously.

"He's innocent," said Harry casually, "He was framed by a vermin named Peter Pettigrew who lives in the form of a rat named Scabbers."

Lillian gasped. "That's why you wanted Ron's rat so bad!"

"Yeah," replied Harry, "But it's of no use now, until we get back."

"How do you know Sirius is innocent Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"It doesn't matter," said Harry.

Dumbledore frowned. He realized what Lillian meant when she said Harry kept to himself. She meant that he never shared anything with anybody and always kept his secrets with himself and no one else.

"Was Pettigrew captured in this world professor?" asked Harry.

"I'll let the others answer your questions once we get to Grimmauld place," he said.

"Others? Whom are you talking about?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"Get where?" asked Lillian.

"Grimmauld place," said Dumbledore. "Now step into the fire and say the destination clearly."

One by one all three disappeared in a swirl of fire and came out in the fire place of Grimmauld place.

"Follow me and don't make a sound, I don't want people to see a thirteen year old Harry when they expect to see _fifteen_ year old one," said Dumbledore to the dimensional travelers.

He led them out of the kitchen and took them to a room on the first floor.

"Wait here, I'll call for you in a moment," said Dumbledore.

"Where are you going?" asked Harry.

"For a meeting," replied Dumbledore shortly and walked out.

Harry and Lillian exchanged a look.

"What do you think?" asked Lillian.

"I think we should find a way back as soon as possible. The more time we spend here the lesser are the chances of going back where we belong."

"What kind of meeting do you think the headmaster's gone for?"

"One in which he tells his most faithful followers about us," replied Harry with a snort.

Lillian looked at Harry strangely but didn't comment.

"Wonder if we'll get to meet the other you," said Lillian airily. "I mean at least one of you will be a decent guy… after all the other you is in Gryffindor."

"Ha, ha, very funny," said Harry sarcastically. "I can imagine what kind of idiot he might be."

"Awww come on Potter, I didn't know you liked insulting yourself!"

Harry gave her nasty look.

"Why don't you shut up for sometime please… your voice is like a nail being scratched on a black board."

"And you think you're the next Bryan Adams!"

"No, but I'm sure I'd fare better than you in a competition."

"Huh, you think. They'd prefer to hear a rat squeak than hear _your_ voice."

"Whatever Freckles," snapped Harry.

Lillian huffed in anger… "Jack Ass," she muttered.

There was silence between the two for a while, but it wasn't to last.

"What happened to you when we arrived here?" asked Lillian.

Harry didn't answer.

"Both times your head started pounding was when you removed your wand."

Harry turned towards her sharply. He hadn't realized that!

"Must be coincidence," he said.

"And you became alright when you vanished your wand or whatever it is you do. I certainly don't think that is coincidence."

"Why don't you worry about yourself Freckles," he snapped.

"Just trying to start a conversation… jeez, you don't need to go all snippy…"

"Whatever," muttered Harry and turned to the other end of the room.

Suddenly the door opened and Dumbledore walked in.

"Professor," said Lillian, sounding relieved.

Dumbledore looked around and smiled. "Well I just had a meeting with a few members of the order and they have been informed of the latest developments."

"What in Merlin's name is the order?" asked Harry.

"Ah, my mistake, you wouldn't have heard of it … yet. It is a secret society dedicated to fighting Voldemort."

"How did he come back anyway?" asked Harry. "Last I saw him he was just a spirit in someone else's body."

"I will let the others explain everything to you," he said.

"Who are these others!" demanded Harry.

"Members of the order," replied Dumbledore. "Now follow me and you can introduce each other. I meanwhile shall go back to Hogwarts and see if I can find a way to send you back."

"Then I'm coming with you," said Harry immediately.

"No," said Dumbledore. "If someone saw you it would become problematic. People will start asking questions and ultimately Voldemort _will_ find out and I do not even want to imagine what he would try to do."

Harry glared at Dumbledore but knew he was right. "Fine… I'll be a good boy and not do anything catastrophic."

"Thank you Harry," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"Not," added Harry under his breath.

"I heard that," muttered Lillian.

"Great," said Harry, rolling his eyes.

The party of three entered the kitchen. Harry and Lillian had their breaths held. But to their surprise they found only seven people inside.

Harry's eyes instantly went to the thin long haired man whom he knew was his godfather.

Sirius too was staring at Harry unable to digest what he had just heard and what he was seeing.

Kingsley Shaklebolt, Remus Lupin, Tonks, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Alastor Moody, Sirius and Snape too… who was looking very unpleasant at the moment, were the only ones present in the room.

"Your order has only nine people including you professor?" asked Harry lightly, breaking the silence.

"I thought Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Sirius could explain the arrangements to Harry and Lillian, I have to get back to the castle. I shall meet you all during the next meeting." He said and immediately left the room.

All the adults were staring at the two dimensional travelers.

"Are you hungry dears?" asked Mrs. Weasley, going straight into her mother mode.

"No," said Harry rudely.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," said Lillian.

Mrs. Weasley looked surprised at the familiarity shown by Lillian.

"You know me from where you've come?" she asked.

"Err… Yes, I spent half of my summer vacation at the burrow."

"And what about you Harry dear?" she asked kindly.

"Excuse me?" said Harry.

"He doesn't know you in our world," Lillian said quickly.

"Oh I see," said Mrs. Weasley looking a bit disappointed. "Well why don't you come along to the kitchen dear," she said to Lillian. "I'll fix something for you."

After they were gone Harry turned to the rest of the group.

"Forgive my wife," said the man sitting beside Sirius whom Harry recognized as Mr. Weasley. "This is how she reacts when she is nervous."

Harry didn't reply but just stared at Sirius.

"So you're Harry Potter from a different dimension eh?" said the man looking like he had been in a war too many.

Harry just nodded. He wasn't feeling very comfortable being in a room with people he didn't know… well barring Sirius.

"How do we know you're not a death eater in disguise," he growled.

"You don't," said Harry simply and got an approving look from the scarred Auror.

"This is so weird!" muttered Tonks. She scrunched her eyes and turned her hair long covering her eyes and turned them yellow.

Harry gaped at her, "How did you do that!"

"Me..! I'm a shape shifter! I can change into whatever I what," said Tonks brightly, her hair reducing in length and turning purple.

"Cool," muttered Harry.

"I think we should introduce ourselves," said Lupin. "I don't think Harry knows all of us."

"I know you, Sirius, Professor Snape and Mr. Weasley," said Harry.

"Oh… that makes things easier… the woman with the purple hair is Nymphado..."

"Just Tonks," growled Tonks.

"Nymphadora Tonks," continued Lupin. "Who prefers to be called only Tonks, the man with the magical eye is Alastor Moody."

Moody just nodded at Harry.

"And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt," he said finally, pointing towards the dark looking man.

"Pleased to meet you," said Kingsley in his deep voice.

"You too," muttered Harry.

"Well I have to go back to the ministry or Fudge will get suspicious," said Kingsley. "Arthur, its your shift tonight," he said and walked out.

"I better get going too," growled Moody. "I'll see you later, Arthur, Remus, Sirius, Tonks."

Snape left without anyone even realizing it.

There was another stretch of uncomfortable silence after Snape left. Nobody seemed to know what to say and everyone was feeling extremely weird seeing a thirteen year old Harry when they knew the fifteen year old Harry was in Privet Drive.

Harry wasn't feeling very good himself. He was stuck in some different dimension or world or whatever with Austin of all people and there were a number of people staring at him as if he was an alien from outer space. How he missed his private room in Hogwarts right now!

Finally the silence was broken by Sirius, who seemed to be itching to say something.

"How do you know who I am?" he asked.

"Sorry?"

"You just started your third year right?"

"Yeah."

"So how do you know who I am? In this world Harry finds out the truth about me at the end of his third year in Hogwarts. But you said you already knew me and you don't seem to think of me as a mass murderer."

"I got to know you at the end of third year? Back home you kind of saved my life before the start of the year."

"What!" exclaimed Sirius "I did!...How?"

Harry glanced at Mr. Weasley and Remus. They immediately understood he was uncomfortable around them.

"Well I think we'll see how Molly and your friend are holding up," said Mr. Weasley quickly. "They sure have been gone a long time," he said laughing nervously and dragged Remus out with him.

"Why don't you sit?" said Sirius.

"Yeah sure," muttered Harry and took a seat opposite him.

"How come you're not comfortable around Arthur but you are around me?"

Harry chose not to answer him but to ask one of his own questions.

"What happened in my third year in this world?"

Sirius was startled. "Well…" he began slowly, "After I escaped from Azkaban, I went to see you at Privet Drive."

He paused.

"I remember seeing you running from the house with your trunk. It certainly was a sight seeing you huffing and panting while lugging a heavy trunk behind you," he said with a laugh.

"I wanted to talk to you then but it was my horrible luck that you accidentally summoned the knight bus and boarded it."

Harry looked up sharply.

"Judging by the look on your face I don't think that's what happened in your world," he said quietly.

"No," replied Harry.

"What happened there?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

Harry didn't reply.

"If you don't want to tell me it's alright," said Sirius, a bit disappointed "But I hope you know that you can trust me."

"It's not that. I was just wondering how many differences are there between this world and my own," said Harry.

Harry paused.

"In my world… I was kind of attacked by the Dursley's and I retaliated with magic… … causing a lot of damage to them.

I ran from the house under my invisibility cloak and somehow managed to reach the park where I collapsed."

Harry took a deep breath recalling that night.

"I was hurt pretty bad and had almost lost consciousness when I saw this huge black dog coming towards me."

Harry was now staring into Sirius's eyes.

"The dog then turned into a man, much to my surprise and then I blacked out. That's how I met you and found out the truth."

"That's certainly not how things turned out over here," said Sirius with a laugh. "Though I am glad to know you caused a lot of damage to those pathetic muggles!" he said with a sudden grin.

Harry grinned too. "Glad you approve. The other you approved too."

"Ah… the other me… are you and I living together?"

"I spent my entire summer in this dump with you," replied Harry.

"And Dumbledore knew about that?"

Harry grinned again, "He still doesn't know where I spent my summer and I don't intend to let him know until that rat is captured. Speaking of which did you capture him!"

Sirius sighed. "No we didn't. He escaped the night you found out the truth and went back to Voldemort."

Harry looked horrified. "Is that how Voldemort came back? Pettigrew helped him!"

Sirius looked away from Harry. "Yes."

"Wait . . . If Pettigrew wasn't captured, that means you're still on the run!"

"That I am. But luckily Kingsley, the Auror you met is in charge of my manhunt and is feeding the ministry information that I am currently in Tibet," he said with a bitter smile. "The down side is Dumbledore doesn't want me to leave the house because _he_ thinks someone could recognize me. And my big disguise is useless because little Peter would have told Voldemort all about me."

Harry eyes grew cold at the name of Dumbledore. "That man thinks he's doing what's best for everyone but he fails to realize that the others might want something else," growled Harry.

The only thing Harry forgot was he had told Sirius the same thing! Do not leave the house under any circumstances!

"He just wants to keep me safe Harry," said Sirius heavily "And he is right. I am a wanted man not only by the ministry but by Voldemort too… because if Voldemort captures me, he could make my Harry do anything he wants just to save me."

Harry's heart stung, when Sirius referred to this worlds Harry as his Harry. Right now talking to Sirius made him forget all about where he was. But that little sentence brought him back to reality. It reminded him how close he had grown to Sirius in the summer and how much he actually missed him.

"Anyway tell me more about your school life! I wonder if it's been as chaotic as our Harry's!"

Harry grinned. "How much has Dumbledore told you about me?"

"Not much. He just explained to us how you two had come to be in this world and told us you would be staying here for a while until he found a way to send you back. Though it took a lot of effort to convince everyone especially Moody."

"What do you want to know?" asked Harry.

"Well you are in Gryffindor that's for sure," he began but paused at Harry grin.

"You are in Gryffindor aren't you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Good lord, please tell me you aren't in Slytherin!"

"Sorry to disappoint. I am a Slytherin."

"How is this possible! I mean Lily and James were Gryffindor's and our Harry is a Gryffindor… but, but how!" demanded Sirius.

"It was the sorting hats choice not mine and besides I'm happy being a Slytherin, at least I'm not an idiotic Gryffindork."

"Hey," yelled Sirius indignantly. "Sweet Merlin," he said suddenly, "What if the sorting hat considered putting our Harry in Slytherin!"

Harry looked at Sirius in amusement.

"God I need a Firewhiskey," he muttered summoning a bottle to himself.

"Your reaction was exactly the same in my world," Harry said with a grin. "Only there was no other Harry there."

"Really? What did I do?"

"You offered me a sip of Firewhiskey."

Sirius gaped at him, "The thought just crossed my mind!" He paused, "Did you take it?"

"It feels like fire erupting in your lungs," he said, "Makes me sick actually."

"Hmmm! Wonder if Harry would take one if I offered him," he said thoughtfully.

The door leading to the kitchen suddenly opened and Mrs. Weasley came marching in. "Sirius Black, did you just summon a bottle of Firewhiskey!" she demanded.

"Err… no?" tried Sirius.

"Then what is that in your hand?"

"Oh this! Harry just offered it to me!"

Mrs. Weasley glared at Sirius who seemed to shrink in his chair. "Shame on you Sirius!" she yelled, "Drinking in front of a thirteen year old!"

"I don't see him protesting!"

"That is not the point! Accio Firewhiskey!" she said, summoning the bottle to her and marched back to the kitchen.

Sirius let out a sigh as soon as she had gone.

"Is she always like this?" asked Harry with a frown.

"Worse," muttered Sirius. "She's been at war with the house ever since she's arrived. Cleaning every room single handedly and making me help her too!"

"Why not just use magic?"

"Too dangerous," said Sirius, "God only knows what kind of creatures live in this house and how they would react to the use of magic."

Harry was laughing inside. They couldn't even do a little research and find a more powerful cleaning spell which could do the job within seconds! But he wasn't going to tell them . . . yet. He would have fun watching them clean this house barehanded!

"And she's also bringing Ron and Hermione over tomorrow, says she needs more help."

"No!" cried Harry.

"Sorry?"

"Weasley and Granger are coming here!"

"Weasley and Granger?" muttered Sirius looking confused until it struck him. "Oh right, you're in Slytherin and they're in Gryffindor!"

"Excellent detective work Sherlock," said Harry sarcastically.

"My god, here you are best friends and there you are enemies!" said Sirius with a grin. "I can't wait to see how they react when they meet you!"

Harry put his head between his hands, "I can imagine how happy Austin is going to be," he groaned.

"Austin? Wait . . . Don't tell me she's a Gryffindor?"

"She is," grumbled Harry.

"Then what were you two doing together?" asked Sirius with a mischievous look on his face.

"Arguing, and doing nothing what you're thinking about."

Sirius laughed. "I still can't get over the fact you're a Slytherin! I mean how can a Potter be a Slytherin!"

"You'll get over it. . . In about a months time," grumbled Harry.

The kitchen door opened again and this time Lillian, Mrs. Weasley and Lupin walked in.

"Where's Tonks and Arthur?" asked Sirius.

"Went back to the ministry, they had work to do," said Remus. "I see you and Harry have been talking quite a bit."

"Yeah, just exchanging details about each others worlds," he said.

"Lillian here has been telling us the same," he said with a glance towards Harry.

"Really, what has she been telling you?" asked Harry.

"Nothing much just the differences, like your house for instance and the way events have played out in your world," said Lupin with a shrug and Mrs. Weasley glanced at Harry nervously.

"I see," said Harry indifferently, "Well I better go to bed," he said. "It's been a long day and I need some rest."

"Do you know where to sleep?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"I'll sleep in Regulus's room," replied Harry. "I'm sure Sirius won't mind."

"But, that room hasn't been cleaned," she said helplessly.

But Harry had already left the room.

"Don't worry about it Mrs. Weasley," said Lillian comfortingly, "He'll manage himself."

"Oh dear, I hope he gets along with Ron and Hermione," she said, looking worried.

Lillian snorted, "I'm looking forward to it, _and_ his meeting with his other self."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Ronald Weasley! You better get down this minute else we shall leave without you!" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "Hermione and Ginny are already ready and we are just waiting for you!"

"Coming, coming, mom," yelled back Ron. "Pig just won't get into his cage!"

"I honestly don't know why he calls his owl a pig," huffed Ginny.

"I can understand why Ron calls him Pig," said Hermione with a snigger.

Ginny glared at Hermione shutting her up instantly.

"Ronald!" screamed Mrs. Weasley again.

There was a noise of something falling and seconds later Ron was sliding down the stairs cage in one hand and trunk in another.

"Finally," muttered Hermione.

"Alright listen up you three," said Mrs. Weasley, "Here read this piece of paper," she said handing them a small piece of paper.

"The order of the," began Ron, but Mrs. Weasley shushed him.

"Talk about it when we get there, anybody could be listening!"

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look.

"Now get into the fireplace and say the destination. And when you get there I want all of you to stay where you are and do not wander off! Do you understand!"

"Yes mother," muttered Ron and Ginny.

"Good, now hurry up dears," she said, "We're already late."

One by one all the Weasley's and Hermione disappeared through the fire place and found themselves in the darkest of houses they had ever seen.

"What the hell is this place?" muttered Ron.

"This is Sirius's parent's house," said Mrs. Weasley, the distaste evident in her voice. "Now follow me quietly. I don't want anything unpleasant to wake up."

"Unpleasant!" squawked Ron.

Mrs. Weasley just shushed him again and took them straight to the dining room where Sirius and the Weasley twins were waiting for them.

"Sirius!" exclaimed Ron and Hermione together.

Sirius just grinned at them. "How are you three," he asked cheerfully.

"We're fine," said Hermione, "We've just been worried about Harry."

"Ah, Harry," muttered Sirius suddenly becoming serious. "Now that's a complicated matter."

"Why what's wrong!" asked Hermione, "did something happen to Harry?" she asked urgently.

"No, no," he said hastily, "It's not what you think."

"Then what?" demanded Ginny, "Why did you get all serious when we mentioned his name?"

"Because my name's Sirius," he said jokingly. Unfortunately nobody laughed.

"Err…. I'll let your mother explain it to you," he said sighing.

Mrs. Weasley glared at Sirius. She clearly didn't want to be the one explaining the situation to the kids.

"Oh well, you all better sit down," she said wearily.

"What's going on mum?" asked Ginny nervously.

"Well since you are living in the headquarters now, I think you all should know an outline of what is going on before you decide to do so by other means," she said with a glance at Fred and George.

"Yesterday there was an accident at Hogwarts."

"An accident!" exclaimed the twins.

"Let me finish," snapped Mrs. Weasley. She took a deep breath and continued. "There was an accident which resulted in the most unimaginable outcomes. Only Professor Dumbledore knows how it happened exactly."

"Hermione, didn't you use a time turner in your third year?" she asked.

"Yes?" said Hermione slowly.

"Well according to Albus, there exist an infinite number of parallel dimensions or worlds… and each of these worlds are similar and dissimilar to our own."

All the Weasley's were confused but Hermione looked to be in deep thought.

"The theory of dimensional traveling," said Hermione.

"Yes," said Mrs. Weasley, "Well, apparently there was an accident in one of those worlds which has resulted in a Harry Potter and another girl traveling to this world."

Everybody's mouth dropped open. Sirius was quietly sniggering at there reactions.

"Priceless," he said to himself.

"Harry's gone to a different world?" asked Ron.

"No you idiot, another Harry has accidentally traveled to this world!" said Ginny.

"But how?" whispered Hermione.

"Well there seems to have been an accident with your time turner. It apparently broke and some how they were transported to this world."

Hermione gasped.

"Wait a minute," said Fred.

"Hermione had a time turner in their third year?" asked George.

"Yeah," said Ron, "She was using it to attend three classes at once. Barking mad if you ask me."

"Blimey! Attending three classes at once! What possessed you Hermione?" said Fred.

Hermione blushed.

"This is not the time for this," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "Now I want you to behave yourselves when you meet Harry and Lillian. I don't want you to play any pranks or pick up any fights."

"Who's Lillian?" asked Fred.

"The girl who came with Harry."

"We've never heard of her," said Ron.

"That's because she doesn't exist in our world," said Sirius suddenly. "Harry is not the same as our Harry. In fact I didn't see any similarities between the two. That's why your mother wants you to behave because we don't want any tension in the house. There's enough as it is."

"But its Harry," said Ron, "He's our best friend!"

"Not in his world," said Sirius quietly.

There was silence.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.

"You'll see, I really don't want to spoil the nice reunion," he said with a grin.

"What about this Lillian?" asked Ginny.

"She's nice, you three are best friends in her world so I'm sure you'll get along," he said gesturing at Ron and Hermione.

"What!" exclaimed the two together.

"And one more thing," added Sirius.

"What now?"

"They are in their third year."

There was another round of silence.

"They are in third year?" repeated Hermione slowly.

"Yes, you had your time turner in your third year remember? They seem to have traveled to a world ahead of their own."

"Amazing," murmured Hermione. "When do we get to meet them?" she asked.

"Well Lillian is up and Harry is still sleeping," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Wait," said Ginny suddenly.

"What?"

"You still haven't told us why we are here and what the 'Order of the Phoenix' is."

"It's a secret society meant to fight Voldemort," came a voice from the door way.

Everyone turned sharply to find a very much younger and healthier Harry Potter leaning casually against the door.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 – Settling in**

"You still haven't told us why we are here and what the order of the phoenix is."

"It's a secret society meant to fight Voldemort," came a voice from the door way.

Everyone turned sharply to find a very much younger Harry Potter leaning casually against the door.

"Harry!" exclaimed Sirius.

Molly looked disapproving and the rest of the Weasley's and Hermione just stared.

"Hey Sirius," said Harry, "Where's Kreacher? I'm really hungry."

"Why do you want Kreacher?"

"For food… breakfast?" said Harry.

"Kreacher doesn't cook Harry," said Sirius with a frown, "He's a good for nothing house elf. Molly made some bacon and eggs though, they're in the kitchen."

"Oh, alright, thanks," he said and walked out, not even sparing the others a glance.

"Was that Harry!" asked Hermione.

"Yup, that's Harry of the other world!" said Sirius dramatically.

"He looks a little different," said Ron.

"Of course you idiot," said Ginny, "He's a thirteen year old Harry."

"Language Ginny!" scolded Mrs. Weasley.

"No, Ron's right," said Fred.

"What do you mean?"

"First of, he wasn't wearing his glasses, secondly he seems to be a little taller than our Harry at that age and thirdly, he looks much healthier."

Everybody gaped at the twins.

"What! We're very observant you know…" said George.

"Yeah, you have to be observant when you're planning pranks," added Fred.

Almost everyone laughed. But Mrs. Weasley was frowning at the twins.

"Wish you would use you're talents in better ways rather than playing pranks all the time."

Fred sighed. "Dear mother, playing pranks _is_ a talent!"

"I agree!" said Sirius, grinning like a loon.

"Oh grow up Sirius," snapped Molly.

"Anyway, why do you think he's so different?" asked Hermione.

"Maybe those muggles he lives with took good care of him," said Ron.

Mrs. Weasley and Sirius snorted. "I doubt those kind of people can change in any universe," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Than why?"

"You'll have to meet him and kind out for yourself. I don't have a clue either," said Mrs. Weasley. "Anyway before you all start hounding him and asking him questions, I want you to go upstairs and chose a room for yourselves. There are three of them which have been cleaned and I want it done in 15 minutes and I want you back here in another 20. Do you understand?" she said sternly.

"Yes, mum," grumbled all the Weasley's.

"Wait," said Ginny suddenly.

"What is it Ginny?"

"If this is a secret organization meant to fight Voldemort, then are we here to help too!" she asked in an excited tone.

"No, you're here to clean up this house and stay out of everyone's way," said Mrs. Weasley sharply. "Now get going or else you lot will get no dinner."

All of them looked outraged.

"That's not fair!" cried Ron.

"Get moving now!" shouted Mrs. Weasley making them scamper.

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **The Original World**

Dumbledore was having the worst day of the year. News of Harry James Potter and Lillian Mary Austin's disappearance had spread throughout the castle and now he had just received a letter from the minister demanding an explanation before the news got to the Daily Prophet and speculations of Sirius Black being involved spread throughout the wizarding community.

Dumbledore sighed as he finished reading the letter. He knew that the minister didn't want any trouble from the Prophet regarding his failure to capture Black.

Getting up from his table he threw some floo powder into the fire place and called for Snape, Lupin and McGonagall.

One by one all three came out of the fire place in a swirling ball of green flames.

"What is it Albus?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Well I called you here to talk about our current situation regarding Mr. Potter and Ms. Austin's disappearance.

"What happened to them?" asked Lupin, looking concerned. "All I know is that they were talking outside the charms classroom and then they were gone!"

"Please sit Remus," said Dumbledore kindly "That is why I have called you here, to tell you the whole story."

Lupin glanced at Snape and McGonagall, "Do they know what happened?"

"Yes," replied Dumbledore. "But that is not the problem. The problem is that people are asking questions and we need to come with a plan fast before anyone finds out the truth."

"But what happened!" asked Lupin.

"Are you aware that Ms. Granger was given a time turner to attend all her classes?" asked Dumbledore.

"No," said Remus, his eyes widening in shock.

"Day before yesterday, Ms. Granger slipped in the charms corridor and her time turner broke next to Harry and Lillian."

"Oh my god, don't tell me," whispered Lupin.

"Nobody knows what happened next but Harry and Lillian vanished and their whereabouts are not known," said Dumbledore with a sigh.

"You don't think they have gone back in time!"

"That is the only possible explanation," said Dumbledore. "And if that's what has happened Merlin only knows how far back they traveled too. The only thing we can do right now is wait and hope they find a way back."

"But they're thirteen years old! How in Merlin's name will they find a way back! It's impossible!"

"I know that Remus," said Dumbledore tiredly, "But that's the most we can do right now."

"Can't we get a time turner and try to recreate what happened! Maybe if we do that we can find a way to get them back!" cried Lupin.

Everyone was silent.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" muttered Dumbledore, sounding amused.

"Honestly," huffed Lupin.

"And how are we going to obtain a time turner?" said Snape with a sneer on his face. "Getting one for that Granger brat was hard enough and now you want one more, just to break it and see what happens?"

"We have to do something Severus," snapped Lupin.

"There's not much a werewolf can do Lupin, and personally I think we are better of without Potter."

"That's enough Severus," said Dumbledore quietly, preventing a confrontation between Lupin and Snape. "This is not the time to fight with each other. We have to give a statement to the school."

"Tell them Potter was foolish enough attempt a spell he had no idea about and he ended up splinching himself," said Snape irritably.

"Severus!" said McGonagall, looking shocked.

"Well it is an idea," muttered Dumbledore.

"Albus! You can't possibly tell the school that!" said McGonagall.

"No, no, of course not," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes. "Not the way Severus said it, but we could say something along those lines without lying too much."

Suddenly an owl swooped into the office and dropped a letter in front of the headmaster and flew away.

"That was a ministry owl," said Lupin.

"No doubt from Fudge," muttered Dumbledore as he opened the letter. His eyes grew somber as he read the letter.

"What is it Albus?" asked McGonagall.

"Fudge is coming here today, in about an hour's time. He wants to know what's going on and he's bringing the head of the department of mysteries along with him."

"Will you tell them the truth?" asked Lupin.

"Of course not, I'll tell them what Severus said. Harry was attempting to do a spell but unfortunately mispronounced it resulting in their forceful apparition from the castle. They were found just outside the castle wards in a coma and are in the care of Madam Pomfrey. Their condition is stable and they will recover in time."

McGonagall frowned disapprovingly. "What if he wants to see them?"

"Nobody is allowed to see them until Madam Pomfrey says so. Even I'm not allowed to see them," he said. He knew it was a feeble excuse but then he had magic to make it perfectly believable.

"Oh alright then," said McGonagall, her shoulders drooping in defeat. "Tell them what you want but we have to find a way to bring them back fast else sooner or later the truth will come out."

"I know Minerva," said Dumbledore, "And I have a plan."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was night time in Hogwarts and all the students were discussing was the disappearance of Harry and Lillian. The Gryffindor's blamed Harry and the Slytherin's blamed Lillian. The Ravenclaw's and the Hufflepuff's remained neutral.

But to everyone's surprise Draco Malfoy chose to keep quiet and say nothing about the incident! Most thought he didn't want to confront all the Gryffindor's together and others thought he was planning something big.

But all of them were wrong. For the past two days Draco was busy researching in the library, nobody knew what he was trying to find.

It was past nine and all the Slytherin third years sitting in the common room discussing what everybody was talking about, Harry's disappearance.

"Do you think he's going to be alright?" whispered Daphne.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Tracey, "And when he wakes up, I'm sure the truth will come out."

"The truth?"

"That, that Austin bitch was the one who tried to curse him and caused the accident!"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"I don't get it," said Blaise.

"Don't get what?" asked Nott.

"Harry's never done a spell wrong before. If there's one thing he's best at, its spell casting and I don't believe that he'd make such a mistake that would result in a forced apparition!"

"You think Dumbledore is not telling the full story?" asked Daphne.

"I don't know," said Blaise, "Hopefully we'll find out more once Harry gets better."

"Can't we visit him?"

"Dumbledore says no one is allowed to see them until they get better," said Draco with a shrug, "Very suspicious, if you ask me."

"Whatever, now I guess I can't ask him out to Hogsmeade."

All the boys stared at her, while the girls stared giggling.

"What!" exclaimed Daphne, "He is cute."

"Harry would have a heart attack if he heard you," muttered Blaise.

"And I'm sure he wouldn't refuse," she added.

"No, he would have shaved your head off and sealed your lips together," whispered Blaise to Draco.

"What did you say!" asked Daphne narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing, nothing, drama queen," said Blaise airily. "Anyway guess I'll go to bed now."

"Yeah, me to," said Tracey with a yawn. "We got transfiguration first thing tomorrow."

"Coming Draco?" asked Nott.

"No, I'll just hang around here for a bit," he said, "You guys go ahead."

"Finally," said Draco, as soon as all his classmates disappeared. He dug his hands into his pocket and removed the broken time turner he found in the charms corridor.

"What the hell is it?" he asked himself for the hundredth time.

He had gone through a number of books trying to find out what the object was and hadn't got a single clue.

Sighing he put the broken object back into his pocket and headed out of the common room. All this thinking was making him hungry.

He went back to his room and found Nott fast asleep. Trying not to make much noise he opened his trunk and removed a shriveled looking hand. Nobody would be able to see him that way.

Quietly he sneaked out of the common room and made his way to the kitchen. There was not a sound in the castle; it was as quiet as a grave.

Very creepy thought Draco, a shiver running down his back.

Suddenly he heard someone talking. Who could be out here he wondered and made his way towards the voices.

As he went round the bend he saw Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall talking in low voices. He could barely hear them but didn't dare go any closer for the fear of Dumbledore catching him.

He saw the headmaster begin casting various spells on the wall. He didn't have a clue what was going on but he was sure it had to do with Harry and the Mudblood's disappearance.

"There seems to be a large concentration of magic here," said Dumbledore, after casting a number of spells.

"What does that mean?" asked McGonagall.

"It means that Harry and Lillian didn't vanish at the spot the time turner hit them, they went _through_ the wall."

"What! How is that possible?" exclaimed McGonagall.

"I don't know but I have a few ideas as to what could have happened now."

"Albus, will they ever come back?"

"They will. I can guarantee that," said Dumbledore confidently.

"How do you know that," demanded McGonagall. "Just today morning you were saying you don't know how to bring them back and now you're confident they will get back! What are you hiding Albus!"

"I know they will come back because it has to be that way. If Harry does not return from wherever he has gone to, Voldemort will win."

McGonagall gasped, "What does You Know Who have to do with this?"

"Minerva, Voldemort might be in hiding right now but he will rise again. And when he rises, we will need Harry by our side."

"Why would we need him! He is just a boy, a wizard in training."

"Minerva, you've seen the power the boy has, and let me tell you that he is only one who can defeat Voldemort once and for all!"

"What are you talking about Albus!"

"What I am trying to say is- Harry must come back because it is his destiny to fight Voldemort! I have been monitoring Voldemort's activities closely and he is becoming stronger day by day! You know what happened in Harry's first year. Voldemort's return was only delayed! Sooner or later he will come back and this peace we have enjoyed for twelve years will soon end and the wizarding world will be in darkness again."

"If you're so sure he's going to return, why can't you finish him off once and for all! Do it while he's still weak!"

"You don't understand Minerva, Harry Potter is the only one who can defeat Voldemort."

"How do you know that!" demanded Minerva.

Dumbledore looked into professor McGonagall's eyes. "Because of a Prophecy made thirteen years ago."

"A prophecy," said McGonagall skeptically. "Albus you should know better than to believe that! There are no true seers these days. All you will find are frauds like our divinations professor!"

Dumbledore smiled at her. "Come to my office," he said. "I have something to show you."

Draco pressed himself against the wall, his heart racing faster than a Firebolt as the two professors went past him.

He was so confused! He hadn't heard their full conversation but he had heard enough to make him go into panic mode. Harry and the Mudblood had vanished from the face of the earth and not even the headmaster knew where they were! And to top it off the headmaster thought the dark lord was going to return to full power sooner or later!

He ran back to the common room, hunger forgotten. He had to inform his father about what he had heard. His father would know what to do!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **The Alternate World**

"Hey Mom, why can't the house elf do all this work!" complained Ron.

"Kreacher is not right in the head Ronald," said Mrs. Weasley in a warning tone. "Don't waste your time talking and concentrate on scrubbing!"

"This is worse than detention," muttered Ron.

"You said it," grumbled Ginny. "Why can't we use magic to clean up this mess!" she asked her mother.

"Because it's too dangerous," said Mrs. Weasley irritably. "One more word from you and you'll be scrubbing the entire floor instead of one shelf!"

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked Ginny.

"Don't know," muttered Ginny "Last I saw her she was in the bathroom."

"You saw her in the bathroom?"

"No you dolt, I saw her entering the bathroom."

"Oh," said Ron, his ears going red.

"Have you seen that Lillian yet?" asked Ron quickly.

"Yup, she was sleeping in our room."

"Oh! How does she look?"

"Don't know," said Ginny, "She was sleeping with the bed sheet over her head. We tried to wake her but she wouldn't budge. She still hasn't woken up."

On cue, Lillian entered the room. Her hair was in a mess and she was still in her night dress. Rubbing her eyes, she made her way to the kitchen unaware that there were four curious eyes following her movement.

"Was that her?" muttered Ron.

"Who else could it be?" said Ginny, "She's the only girl other than Hermione and me in this house."

"She looked really sleepy," said Ron with a snigger.

"And hungry," added Ginny, "Total Gryffindor material… did you talk to the other Harry yet?"

"No, mum says he's sleeping in a different room. She said he choose his own room and refused to let anyone share it with him."

"Huh, doesn't sound like the Harry we know does he?"

"Not at all, mum was mighty peeved with him but didn't say anything."

"So he's not in Gryffindor then," said Ginny.

"Why do you say that?" asked Ron, surprised.

"Use your head you moron. If he were in Gryffindor wouldn't he be friends with you and Hermione?"

"Not necessarily. Maybe we aren't such good friends in his world. Maybe him and Neville are best friends!" he said with a shudder.

"How come we didn't see them yesterday?"

"Don't know," he said shrugging. "Mum says they Harry spent the whole day in his room while Lillian was with Dumbledore."

"Why?"

"Don't know… that's what mum told me when I asked her."

"What are you two doing!" screeched Mrs. Weasley. "It's been half an hour since you started and you haven't even completed half the work!"

Ron and Ginny winced.

"Fred and George have already finished their work and you two are busy chatting!"

"We're hungry mom! How can we work on an empty stomach!" said Ron indignantly.

"You've already eaten Ronald Bilius Weasley," growled Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny sniggered.

"But I'm hungry!" he said, "We didn't have much to eat at all!"

"Yeah mum, we didn't eat much," added Ginny quickly.

Mrs. Weasley scowled. "Well go to the kitchen and eat your fill then," she said.

The two got up smiling victoriously.

"And after you finish eating we're going to tackle all the carpets," she said wiping the smiles off their faces.

"Well at least we can take our time eating," muttered Ginny, nudging Ron to follow her before Mrs. Weasley gave them anymore work.

"Why in Merlin's name is she on a crusade to get this house clean!" exclaimed Ron indignantly.

"She wants us to be working all day instead of causing trouble all day," said Ginny. "Take Fred and George for example, they've already taken a few weird bugs to experiment on for their joke shop!"

"They have?"

"Yeah, they wanted to test them on you bit I told them not to else you would go crying to mummy," she said, sniggering.

"I would not!" said Ron hotly.

"Yes you would."

"Would not..." said Ron, but his voice died out as they entered the kitchen.

"Hey," said Lillian cheerfully, munching on a piece of toast.

"Hey!" said Fred and George, "Lillian was just telling us about all the pranks we've played in her world,' said Fred.

"And from her description about us, we're exactly the same!" said George.

"Ha ha, now move away from the toast before I hex you," said Ginny.

"And that is our dear Gin-Gin," said Fred with a sigh. "The spitfire of the family," added George.

Lillian giggled.

A yellowish purple ball zoomed towards George making him dive for cover.

"You're not allowed to use magic Ginny!" cried Ron.

"Oh shut up you coward," snapped Ginny. "Any magic done in this house cannot be detected by the ministry."

"How do you know that?" demanded Ron.

"Sirius told me. Now are you done talking George?" she said menacingly.

"You see why we're scared of her," Fred told Lillian quietly but had to duck as another ball came hurtling towards him.

"Don't listen to these morons Lillian, they're nothing but trouble."

"And you're not?" demanded George.

"I never get caught!" she said smugly.

"I don't know how you got sorted to Gryffindor with an evil mind like yours," said Fred, hiding behind Lillian.

"You're in Gryffindor!" asked Lillian, surprised.

All the Weasley's looked towards Lillian disbelief written all over their faces.

"Why are you so surprised?" asked Ginny.

"Well, that's because, umm... you're not in Gryffindor?" she said slowly.

"I am in which house then?" she asked.

"Err... the same house as Harry," she said quickly.

The Weasley's sagged with relief.

"For a moment I thought you were going to say I was in Slytherin," said Ginny with a laugh.

"Yeah, fancy that!" said Lillian laughing as well.

"Oh by the way," said Fred suddenly, "Which house is Harry in?"

Lillian froze. "He didn't tell you?"

"We haven't even met him properly yet," said Ron.

"Oh, well, he's in..."

"I'm in Slytherin," said Harry from the door. He certainly liked to make surprise entrances.

The day could not be full of anymore surprises for the Weasley's!

"What are you doing here," said Lillian, narrowing her eyes.

"Is it a crime to have breakfast?" asked Harry coolly.

"No, but you have a tendency of showing up at wrong places at the wrong time."

"So do you," replied Harry, "In fact you like to drag others into whatever shit you're into."

Lillian was about to retort when Ron interrupted.

"You're in Slytherin!" he said looking absolutely shocked.

Harry looked at him and smirked, "Yeah," he said.

"I'm in Slytherin!" squeaked Ginny, looking thunderstruck.

"You are," said Harry, "Very popular amongst us too," he added.

"W-what?" stammered Ron. "Ginny is in Slytherin?"

Fred and George stared at Harry. "You're world is so screwed up!" they said together.

Harry looked at them coldly, "I'd say it was yours that is so _screwed up._ Honestly, how in Merlin's name was I sorted into Gryffindork!"

Whatever doubts everybody in the room had about the Harry's evaporated that instant. All of them came to the same conclusion; this Harry was way different from their own!

Lillian sighed. "Trust Potter to start an argument," she thought.

"And why is that!" asked Ron hotly. Whatever excitement he had about meeting a different version had just vanished.

"Why is what?" said Harry. He was enjoying himself, he had been getting bored of being stuck in this house and had decided to irritate Lillian a bit but was even more glad when he saw the Weasley's with her!

"What's wrong with Harry being a Gryffindor or wait, you being a Gryffindor..." he said, his voice dying out as he tried to figure out what to call him.

"Because Gryffindor's are dumb," said Harry simply, "And I know that I'm not dumb."

"Arrogant," muttered Ginny.

"Oh hey Ginny, Forgot you were here. I honestly don't know how a person like you got sorted into Gryffindor!"

"How does it matter?" she said coldly.

"Oh, how nice to see you all bonding," said Mrs. Weasley, who had just entered the kitchen.

"Oh we were just talking Mrs. Weasley," said Harry sweetly.

"That's nice to hear," she said happily, "Now are you kids done eating?"

"Yes mom," muttered the Weasley kids.

"Good then I want you to get back to work. Lillian, Harry, would you be a dear and help them out to get this house clean?"

"Yes," said Lillian.

"No," said Harry.

Everybody stared at Harry in disbelief. Nobody had the guts to say no to Molly Weasley. No One!

"I beg your pardon?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"I said no, I'm not going to waste my time cleaning this house," said Harry, "I've got better things to do."

That said Harry walked out of the kitchen, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"The audacity of that guy!" burst out Ron.

"I agree," said Fred, "Who does he think he is!"

"I swear, he's nothing like our Harry," said Ginny indignantly, "This guy is just plain nasty."

"Like Malfoy," added Ron.

Lillian quietly listened to there conversation but inside she was fuming. "Why couldn't that moron just be polite for once," she thought, "The next time I see him, I am so going to knock the stuffing out of him!" she thought venomously.

"Why the pissed of look, Lillian," asked George, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Oh nothing, was just thinking," she said, hastily.

"Thinking what?"

"Stuff," she said evasively, she didn't want to tell them she was thinking about ways to torture Harry!

Suddenly Mr. Weasley burst into the room. "Molly, emergency meeting. Kids, back to your rooms now!" he said sharply.

"Why," asked Ron at once, "What happened?"

"Ron, just go to your room now!" he said firmly.

"But what happened!"

Mr. Weasley looked at them solemnly and said, "Harry's just been attacked by Dementor's."


	23. Chapter 22

**Note: Third** year Harry will be referred to as **Harry''** and **fifth** year Harry will be referred to as **Harry**.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Chapter 22 – Lord Voldemort Shall Rise Again**

Harry **''** was sitting in a corner watching Ron and Hermione pace around impatiently waiting for the guard to bring the other Harry back.

"How long are they going to take?" Ron asked impatiently.

"I don't know," snapped Hermione "I'm not a seer am I?"

Ron sniggered, "Yup, you're definitely not Trelawney."

Ron and Hermione continued arguing while Harry was lost in his own thoughts. He tried to deny it but he was a little excited to meet himself from another universe. He wondered how similar they would be even though his counterpart was in Gryffindor. There could be so much he could learn from him, he could improve his control over his element, learn new spells... the list was endless!

Mrs. Weasley entered the room quietly and called them down for dinner.

Everybody was quiet during dinner.

"Who all have gone to bring Harry?" asked Hermione, biting her lips.

"Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, Lupin and Diggle," replied Mr. Weasley.

"Why so many?" asked Ron, "Why not just use a portkey and bring him here?"

"Because if death eaters did send those dementors; then they could be waiting for us to go and bring Harry. Using a portkey or apparating would be too dangerous because the ministry can detect magic in and around Harry's house."

"So what if they can detect magic? It's not like Harry's doing it right?"

"The ministry can detect magic around Harry's house, but they can't detect who did it," said Sirius, "Harry already did the patronus charm which has gotten him into so much trouble already, any more magic detected around his house would get him expelled for sure."

"But he did it in self defense!" said Hermione "It's not like he did it because he was bored or something!"

"Fudge doesn't care Hermione. All he wants is to have Harry expelled and have him declared a lunatic because he says Voldemort is back."

"But you know who _is_ back, said Ginny furiously. "Why do they want to deny the truth?"

"They are denying it because if they accept the fact that Voldemort is back then it would mean a shit load of work for them and the public wouldn't forgive them for letting this happen. Ultimately Fudge would loose his job," said Mr. Weasley.

"So this is all about being the minister?" said Hermione in disgust.

"Yes," replied Sirius heavily. "Fudge is too corrupted and blinded by power to see the truth. All he sees is gold and power."

Everyone relapsed into silence.

Soon dinner was over and everybody walked back to their rooms. Harry **''** , Lillian, Ron and Hermione headed over to Ron's room to wait for Harry.

"Erm… Harry **''** , Lillian," said Hermione.

"What?"

"Do you mind waiting in the other room? Not that we don't want you here, it's just that we don't want Harry to freak out seeing another Harry **''**."

Lillian shrugged, "Sure, come on Potter," she said, beckoning him to follow her.

Harry **''** frowned and followed her out. He was hoping to shock the other Harry but knew that would be a bad idea.

Sighing he turned around and walked towards his room.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Lillian asked Harry **''**.

"To my room," replied Harry **''**.

"Well wait up then! I'm coming too," she said.

Harry'' stopped and stared at her incredulously, "Why can't you go to your own room?"

"Hermione's trying some stupid experiment and she won't tell what it is _and_ she doesn't want anyone entering in there for 3 hours."

"What kind of experiment?" asked Harry'' curiously.

"Don't know, don't care," she said, "She's making some potion she found in one of the books here."

"Oh, I see," said Harry'' with a frown. He wondered what kind of potion Hermione was making considering the fact that the Black library had books only about dark magic.

Lillian gasped as soon as they entered Harry's **''** room.

"Your room is so clean!" she exclaimed.

"Of course," replied Harry **''** , "I'm not going to sleep in a smelly, dirty, bug infested room am I?"

"This has got to be the best room in this entire house," she said in awe. "The whole room looks like it's just been dry cleaned or something! How come our rooms look like trash and yours is so... so nice!" she shot at him.

"Magic," replied Harry **''** with a smirk.

"Don't be a smart ass, Potter, just tell me already."

"If you don't want to believe me, don't. I've got a good room, that's all I care about," said Harry **''** with a shrug.

"But you can't do magic outside Hogwarts," she retorted.

"Not in this house, remember what the Weasley girl told you this morning."

"Magic can't be detected in this house," she said smacking her forehead. "God dammit! Why doesn't Mrs. Weasley let us do magic in the house! We could get so much practice."

Harry'' smirked, "Who's asking you to listen to her? She's not your mother is she?"

Lillian lost her indignant look and her face became stony. Harry immediately realized his mistake.

"Sorry," he said, looking apologetic.

"It's alright," she said, "You don't have to apologize... _especially_ you."

Harry **''** laughed. But it wasn't a happy laugh. It was just a laugh because of the irony of the situation.

"I listen to Mrs. Weasley because she makes me feel like I have a mom or rather she's my mom," she said quietly.

Harry **''** was silent. "How did she die?"

"Car accident," replied Lillian. "We were passing through a village when there was an explosion, a transformer or something blew up which caused our car to overturn. Mom suffered severe head injuries and died. Dad was lucky though; he just broke his leg and had a few minor injuries."

She was silent for a while.

"Mum died because she was trying to make sure I didn't get hurt. She died protecting me... That's what dad says anyway," she said sadly.

Harry **''** didn't know what to say. His mom had died protecting him so she could understand how she felt a bit.

"Do you remember anything?" asked Harry **''**.

"Naw, nothing at all," she said, "I dream about it sometimes, but all I see is this multicolored wave coming towards us."

"A colorful wave?"

"A colorful wave," repeated Lillian. "What about you, since we are having such a depressing conversation, do you remember anything that happened the night you got that scar?"

Usually Harry **''** hated anyone asking his questions about his parents or scar, but he didn't mind telling Lillian. Maybe it was because he could relate to her in a few ways.

"Like you I dream about it sometimes," he said. "But all I remember is this green flash of light and this high pitched cruel laughter."

"Laughter?"

"Yeah laughter, probably that screwed up dark lord enjoying himself."

Lillian grimaced. "We're well rid of him, thankfully."

But that was not true and Harry **''** knew it. He knew he was destined to face Voldemort again and it was his destiny to defeat him. Sometimes he wondered why he couldn't just run away and live peacefully on some island in the middle of the ocean but he couldn't. He knew Voldemort would never stop looking for him, because the dark lord would want revenge for what happened to him at Gordic's Hollow and if he didn't stop the psychotic dark lord then who would?

"Hey Harry **''**?" called Lillian, suddenly.

"What?"

"You used magic to clean up this room, right?"

"Yeah."

"You used your wand?"

"Of course."

"How come you didn't collapse this time?"

Harry'' shrugged, "I didn't collapse but there was this forbidding buzzing noise in my head."

"Forbidding?"

"It was like it was urging me to get back to our world."

"Maybe that's because you think it is wrong to be here. Maybe it's just your subconscious mind talking to you," said Lillian.

"This is different," said Harry **''**. He knew it was different because it felt like his wand was trying to talk to him but could not reach him because of some interference. But thankfully it was working just fine after his Hogwarts incident.

"Listen!" said Lillian suddenly.

They could hear someone's muffled voice through the walls. They opened the door and the muffled voice turned out to be someone yelling.

Lillian listened closely and then gasped.

"What?" asked Harry **''**.

"I'd bet a 100 pounds that's your voice," she whispered, "Except the fact that it sounds a little rough."

Harry **''** listened carefully and if he didn't know better he'd say that he was hearing himself!

"Looks like the other me has arrived and he's not in a good mood," said Harry with a smirk.

"What to go and see him?" asked Lillian hesitantly.

"Let's listen to what he's yelling about," said Harry **''**.

As they got closer, Harry's voice became clearer and clearer.

"WHO HAD TO FACE VOLDEMORT LAST YEAR? ME! ALL SUMMER I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET NEWS ABOUT WHATS GOING ON THROUGH THE DAILY PROPHET BECAUSE _DUMBLEDORE_ MADE YOU PROMISE NOT TO TELL ME ANYTHING!"

"Harry," said Hermione, her voice trembling, "We wanted to tell you what's going on but we couldn't! Dumbledore said it wasn't safe."

"Are you telling me Dumbledore doesn't have other means of sending a message?" Harry shot back.

Hermione hung her head.

"What is this place anyway?"

"Grimmauld Place, headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," said Ron quickly, "It's a secret society meant to fight Voldemort."

"Well?" asked Harry.

"Err… Well what?"

"Voldemort!" he said furiously, "What's he been up to? Why hasn't the daily prophet been reporting any deaths!"

"Well we haven't exactly been involved in the order meetings," said Hermione, "But we have overheard a few things," she added quickly seeing Harry's furious look.

"The ministry has been denying the return of V-Voldemort," she said.

"Why! Didn't I tell Fudge I saw him come back to life!"

"Harry, the minister doesn't want to believe you and if you say you've been reading the daily prophet you'll know why."

Harry frowned, "Well I haven't been reading it word to word, just the head lines. I mean if someone has been murdered or the dark mark has been seen, it would be headlines wouldn't it?"

Hermione bit her lips, "Well the thing is... well they all believe what Skeeter wrote about you last year," she said quickly.

"What? I thought you caught that woman."

"The Prophet has been building on the base she left for them and nobody would be willing to believe what you say."

Harry sighed and punched the wall in frustration.

Ron and Hermione looked alarmed.

"Maybe you should calm down Harry," said Ron, in a small voice, not wanting him to erupt again.

Harry ignored him.

Ron looked at Hermione and waved at her frantically.

"What?" hissed Hermione.

"Tell him about the other Harry **''** ," Ron hissed back.

Hermione glared at him. "You tell him!"

"What are you two whispering about," said Harry, harshly "More secrets?"

"N-no," said Hermione shooting Ron an evil look, "There's just something else we need to tell you."

"What?" asked Harry, narrowing his eyes.

Outside Harry **''** and Lillian stifled a laugh. "Here it comes," said Harry **''**.

"Well about a week back there was an accident at Hogwarts," said Hermione nervously.

Harry eyes widened, "Don't tell me deatheaters attacked Hogwarts!"

"What! No, no!" said Hermione. "It was a different sort of accident."

Hermione took a deep breath.

"You remember what happened in our third year?" she asked him.

"How could I forget," replied Harry, "It was the year we rescued Sirius."

"Right," said Hermione, "Well, what if that time turner broke by accident, what would happen?"

"It would not work and we would not save Sirius," said Harry slowly.

"Or it would malfunction and send you somewhere you didn't want to go."

"What are you trying to say Hermione?" asked Harry tiredly.

"What's she's trying to say is another you from a different universe ended up in this universe because the time turner broke in his universe," said Ron.

Harry stared at Ron as if he were out of his mind.

"What did you just say?"

"Harry, what do you know about parallel universes," said Hermione quickly shooting a glare at Ron.

"Absolutely nothing."

Outside the room Harry **''** huffed with impatience, "Maybe we should just barge in and surprise him," said Harry **''**.

"Don't even think about it," whispered Lillian, "god only knows how he'll react to seeing himself and we don't want any more accidents."

"Freckles using her brains," said Harry with a snigger, "Never thought I'd see such a day... looks like I turned out to be a good influence on you."

"The day you start influencing me is the day I die Potter," she growled softly.

Back inside the room Harry's mind was swirling with confusion.

"Hold on one second Hermione, you're telling me that there exists these infinite number of _parallel universes_ and I from one of those universes got transported here by accident!"

"Him and another girl," added Ron.

Harry snorted, "Are you serious! Or is this some practical joke you guys have planned!"

"No, Harry! Its true, they're in the house right now!"

Harry stared at Hermione. "I don't believe it," he said shortly.

"And he's as stubborn as you," whispered Lillian to Harry **''**.

"Maybe you'll believe it if you met them."

Harry frowned. This was unbelievable, thought Harry. How there possibly be another him in this world. But he knew Hermione wouldn't lie about such a thing and there was only one way to see if this wasn't a prank.

"So where are they?" he asked her.

"In the other Harry's **''** room," said Hermione, sounding relived. "We didn't want you to freak out looking at your thirteen year old self."

"Do you want to meet them?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know," he said. "What would you do if you had to meet yourself?"

"Don't know," said Ron with a shrug, "Maybe you don't have to meet him at all, just keep avoiding him. He's a jerk anyway."

Harry frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Don't listen to him, Harry," said Hermione, "Just because he thinks the other you is a jerk doesn't mean you should feel the same until you meet him."

"That's not true, even Fred, George, Ginny and even Lillian think he's a jerk."

"Why do you think he's a jerk?" asked Harry.

"Because he is!" said Ron, "And because he's a Slytherin."

Harry froze.

"He's in Slytherin?"

"Yeah, can you believe it! I bet the sorting hat didn't even think twice before putting you in Gryffindor!" ranted Ron.

That's not true, thought Harry, the sorting hat had wanted to put me in Slytherin but I refused. If another me has really come from another universe then I get to see myself if I were in Slytherin.

Excitement started building up inside Harry; he didn't care whether the other Harry was a jerk or was like Malfoy, he just wanted to see how true were the sorting hats words when he said Slytherin would bring him power and greatness.

"Harry?" called Hermione snapping him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"You spaced out for a couple of minutes. Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine … … So where is the other me?" he asked lightly.

"Should I go get them?" asked Hermione.

"I think we should go to his room. I feel kinda weird calling myself here."

Hermione nodded but before either of them could move, there was a knock on the door.

Harry froze with anticipation.

The door opened and in walked Lillian and Harry **''**.

Both the Harry's stared at each other, each having identical expressions of shock and surprise on their faces.

"Err... hey," said Harry, nervously.

Harry **''** just continued staring at Harry, analyzing his every feature and trying to make out any major differences between the two of them. . . . . He could find none, except the fact that Harry looked a little starved, dirty and wore broken glasses.

"Hi," said Harry **''** finally. He could feel his stomach churning around in nervousness.

"Wow," said Harry with a laugh. "You look exactly like me, except for a few minor differences of course."

"Considering you are me, I doubt we would look much different," said Harry **''** dryly.

Harry shook his head, "I didn't believe Hermione when she said another me from a different universe had come here by accident, but now," he trailed off, his eyes landing on Lillian.

"Who are you?" he asked her.

"I'm Lillian," she said quickly, "err you don't know me here because I think I don't exist here or whatever but I'm with Harry **''** , the other Harry **''**. I was with him when the accident occurred, that's how I came here."

She said all this so fast that Harry barely had time to understand what she said.

"Don't mind her," said Harry **''** with a smirk. "She always talks like that when she's nervous."

"Nervous about what?"

"To meet you, you prat," huffed Hermione, "Don't tell me you weren't," she said tapping her foot on the floor.

Harry grinned and run his hand through his hair, "Well yeah I was, but not _that_ much."

All this time Ron was sitting in a corner, watching the conversation play out. He decided it was time he stepped in.

"So who's your best friend in Slytherin?" he asked Harry **''**.

Harry'' frowned, "What's it to you?"

"Just curious," said Ron, "I mean if you were in Gryffindor, Hermione and I would have been your best friends. But since you're in Slytherin, I guessing it's Malfoy."

Harry looked towards Harry **''** waiting for an answer holding his breath.

"Well, you sure know me well Weasley," said Harry **''** with a sneer, thinking about all the painful ways to torture the red head.

Harry couldn't believe it. Malfoy was his best friend! The very thought was revolting.

"But contrary to your beliefs Malfoy is not my _best_ friend and nor do I have any _best_ friends," said Harry **''**.

Harry sagged in relief.

"How did you get sorted into Slytherin anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing," replied Harry **''** "How did you get sorted into Gryffindor?"

Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione. He had never told them about the conversation he had with the sorting hat because he was scared about what they would think. But it was time to come clean, he thought. He was a true Gryffindor and pulling Gryffindor's sword out of the sorting hat had proved it. "I asked the sorting hat to put me there," said Harry with a shrug.

"You mean the sorting hat considered putting you in Slytherin!" asked Ron aghast.

Even Hermione was shocked.

"Yeah," said Harry, "In fact the sorting hat didn't consider it, he wanted to put me in Slytherin but I refused."

"Really!" said Harry **''** , "Why did you refuse?"

"I was fortunate enough to meet Malfoy in Diagon alley," said Harry with a shudder.

"Ah, that explains it," said Harry **''** , with a frown wondering if he would have done the same if he had met a person like Malfoy before going to Hogwarts.

"So if you hadn't met Malfoy, you would be in Slytherin," said Ron disgustedly.

"I don't know. The sorting hat had a hard time choosing between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but I'm glad it decided to stick Gryffindor in the end," he said with a dry laugh.

"What about you?" Harry asked Harry **''**. "Why did you choose Slytherin?"

"I didn't choose," said Harry''. "I just never met Malfoy in Diagon alley like you did."

"Oh," said Harry, clearly surprised.

"Do you like being in Slytherin?" he asked after a pause.

"Of course," said Harry **''** , "I'd prefer Slytherin over Gryffindor any day."

Harry was perplexed, "How could you want to live with those snakes!"

"That's the problem with you people isn't it," said Harry **''** , shaking his head. "You can't even imagine that a decent person could be there in a house like Slytherin. Do you even know anybody apart from Malfoy and his cronies in Slytherin?"

Harry was silent, "No," he admitted after a while. "But I haven't interacted with any other decent Slytherin till date."

"And I haven't seen a single decent Gryffindor either," shot back Harry **''**.

There was a knock on the door and Ginny entered.

"Oh, hey Harry!" she said brightly ignoring the other one. "I thought I heard your voice when you arrived."

"Hi Ginny," he replied, relieved that he didn't have to continue his conversation with Harry **''**.

"Mum's calling you all downstairs. The meetings over and dinner is ready."

"Oh, great, Lets go down then shall we," said Hermione, eager to end the conversation before it turned too nasty.

"We'll talk later shall we?" said Harry **''** lightly and followed Ginny.

"Yeah, sure," said Harry, a little cautiously. The tone in the other Harry's voice indicated that there was a lot more he wanted to talk about and his instinct told him it was going to be about their illustrious childhood.

"So what do you think?" asked Ron.

"Nothing yet," replied Harry. "I'm still trying to process the fact that I just had a conversation with a thirteen year old version of me."

Ron chuckled. "Come on hurry up, my stomach is crying for food."

"Isn't that always the case," said Harry with a laugh.

He got a smack on the head for that comment.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **The Original World**

Draco hurried towards the shrieking shack as fast as he could. It had taken him a while to get rid of his classmates and he was already 2 minutes late for the meeting.

He reached the ancient haunted house feeling a bit scared but was sighed with relief when he realized his father hadn't reached yet.

"You're late," came the cold voice of Lucius Malfoy from behind him.

"Father!" said Draco, almost jumping out of his skin with fright.

"You were supposed to be here 5 minutes ago."

"2 minutes ago," he said dully.

Lucius narrowed his eyes. "Why is it that you wanted to talk to me face to face and is so important that you could not write about it in a letter?"

Draco shivered at the cold penetrating gaze of his father.

"How are you too, _father_?" said Draco sarcastically.

"Don't get smart with me Draco. I had to skip a meeting with the minister because you said you had something important to tell me. So make it quick."

Draco sighed. "Last week around the time Potter disappeared, I snuck out of the common room at midnight to get a snack," he began.

"And why did you have to sneak out at midnight?" asked his father.

"Why do you think?" asked Draco rolling his eyes.

Lucius narrowed his eyes dangerously.

Draco immediately wished he hadn't said that, it wasn't good to test his father's patience. "I meant I was hungry so I decided to go to the kitchen and have a quick snack!" he said quickly.

"Anyway, on the way, I was passing through the charms corridor and I heard Dumbledore and McGonagall's voice."

Lucius's eyes shone with sudden interest.

Draco looked pleased. "I hid in the shadows and saw Dumbledore casting a number of spells on the wall where Potter apparently disappeared."

"Maybe be was just trying to figure out how the accident happened Draco!"

"That's what I thought too, but then I heard McGonagall say _there had to be a way to get them back!_ "

"Get them back?" said Lucius slowly.

"That's right," said Draco, excitement leaking from his voice. "And then Dumbledore says he has to come back because of some prophecy..."

"Prophecy!" interrupted Lucius sharply, "Are you sure he said that!"

"Positive, but that's not the end of it. He seems to think the dark lord is still alive and sooner or later he's going to come back," he said, the fear and excitement evident in his voice.

Lucius was silent.

"Father?"

"What?"

"Do you think the dark lord is going to come back?"

"I don't know and don't concern yourself with it," said Lucius.

"Why shouldn't I?" said Draco bravely, "Because if he does come back I am going to become a death eater and help him get rid of all the mudbloods!"

Lucius slapped Draco, knocking the wind out of him.

"Idiot boy!" he snarled, "Don't talk about things you don't know about. If serving the dark lord is your dream, then get it out of your head as fast as you can! Because if you want to become what I had to become, then you are doomed to lead a miserable life until the day you die!"

Draco held his cheek, tasting blood in his mouth. "Then why do you serve him!" demanded Draco.

"Because the other alternative would be the death of our family," he said shortly.

Draco paled.

"I will do what I have to do to protect our family," he said firmly, "Even if it means bringing darkness over the entire wizarding world once again."

Lucius turned to leave but stopped when Draco called him again.

"What is it now?" he asked impatiently.

"I forgot to give you this," he said, removing a small packet from his robes.

"What it is?"

"I found it in the charms corridor. It slipped from Granger's hand and fell on potter and the mudblood and that's when they disappeared."

Lucius opened the package found a broken hourglass.

"This is an hourglass Draco, an empty half broken hourglass. Don't tell me you didn't recognize it the moment you saw it!"

Draco was dumbfounded, "An hourglass?"

"Yes an hourglass. There's nothing special about it!"

Draco was tongue tied. He tired to say something but it wouldn't come out. "But, but, maybe it was something inside the hourglass that caused the accident!" he said desperately. He had honestly believed the hourglass was the answer to the mystery of Potter's disappearance.

"The only _thing_ this hourglass can do is pour sand from compartment to the other!" growled Lucius dangerously.

Draco was stunned.

"I'm leaving, Draco," said Lucius. "Try not to embarrass yourself at school."

"Wait father!"

"What is it?"

"Are you going to find him?"

Lucius stiffened.

"See you in the summer Draco," he said and apparated away.

Draco stared at the spot his father disappeared. "Looks like a war is going to start again," he muttered and began to walk back to Hogsmeade, wondering if he had made the right decision in talking to his father.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Alternate world**

Harry couldn't sleep. His trial at the ministry was tomorrow or rather today, he thought, seeing it was well past midnight.

Sighing he got up and decided to go and have something to eat. He made his way downstairs quietly, not wanting to wake anything nasty and have everybody waking up.

"Why is it so damn cold," he said with a shiver, wishing he had covered himself up in more clothes.

"Why not just use your wand to warm yourself up?" said a very familiar voice from the couch.

"Harry **''**."

"Hello to you too," said Harry **''** in amusement.

"What are you doing down here? It's almost two in the morning," said Harry.

"Couldn't sleep," he said, "What about you? Worried you might be expelled tomorrow?"

Harry sighed, "Yeah, something like that."

"Getting expelled for protecting your self," said Harry **''** smirking, "Wonderful way to leave Hogwarts."

"So you think I don't stand a chance?"

"I don't know if you stand a chance," said Harry **''**. "But if what you told me about the ministry is true, they're going to try their best to snap your wand."

Harry shuddered, "Thanks," he said sarcastically, "You just made me feel a whole lot better!"

"You're welcome," said Harry **''** , the corner of his mouth twitching.

"What happens to you?" Harry **''** asked Harry.

"What happens to me when?"

"What happens to you when the dementors get close to you?"

"You haven't been close to a dementor yet have you?" he asked his younger self.

"I have, but nothing happened to me. Everyone around me started shivering and looked like they were having a terrible nightmare but I didn't feel a thing except for a slight headache."

Harry stared at Harry'' in shock. Was he hearing right? Dementors didn't have any effect on his counterpart! How was that even possible!

"You don't hear anything? No screaming nothing!" asked Harry incredulously.

"Well I did hear a little screaming but I thought it was someone in the train."

Harry couldn't believe this and the shock was clearly visible in his eyes.

"And going by your reaction, that is not what happens to you when you get close to a dementor," said Harry **''** slowly.

"No," said Harry after a while. "I... I hear mum screaming and pleading for mercy before Voldemort kills her. Sometimes I hear dad yelling at mum to take me to safety before Voldemort kills him too. Third year at Hogwarts was not very pleasant for me," he said with a shiver.

"You hear mum and dad?" asked Harry **''** strangely.

"Yeah, and I know what you're thinking," he added.

"And what do you think I'm thinking?"

"You're wondering what it would be like to hear their voices."

Harry **''** opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. "How did you guess?" he asked instead.

"Because I had the same thought. At times I would want to go close to a dementor just to hear their voices but listening to mum scream and plead for my life is not something I'd want to hear again and again," he said quietly.

"No, I guess not," said Harry''.

"Damn its cold!" said Harry shivering violently. He stood up and went to the fire place and began to arrange the logs.

"Now where is the matchbox?" he said, looking around.

"You're feeling cold?" asked Harry **''**.

"Aren't you?

"But what about your elemental power? Doesn't it help?"

Harry was lost, "My elemental power? What are you talking about?"

"You're not an elemental!" asked Harry **''**.

"You're not making any sense at all mate."

"What the hell?" muttered Harry **''** , "If he is me then he should have the same powers as me unless our strengths are different in different dimensions," he thought.

"Are you alright Harry **''**?"

"How different are we?" asked Harry **''** aloud.

"What do you mean?"

"I am a water elemental," said Harry **''**. "I can control water and bend it to my will."

"No way!" exclaimed Harry, his mouth dropping open.

Harry'' just made a ball of water float on his hand to prove it.

"And apparently you aren't," Harry **''** added.

Harry was still gaping at the ball of water floating in Harry's **''** hand.

"How are you doing that?" he asked in awe.

"Like I said, I am a water elemental in my world and it seems you don't have such a power. As to why you don't have it, I don't have a single clue."

"I have never heard of elementals before," said Harry, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Nor had I, until I discovered I was one," replied Harry **''**.

There was a pause.

"I wonder what else is different between our worlds," said Harry. "I mean, I got sorted into Gryffindor and you in Slytherin. You apparently have this amazing power and I don't," he said, with a hint of envy in his voice.

"Why do you still live with the Dursley's?" asked Harry **''** , changing the topic, "Why not with Sirius?"

"Dumbledore thinks I'm the safest at the Dursley's because of the blood wards," said Harry.

Harry **''** sneered in disgust. "Why do you have to listen to him! Sirius is your godfather not Dumbledore! He doesn't have any right to dictate where you live or don't live."

Harry shrugged, "Dumbledore has my best interests at heart," he said, "I'm sure he had his reasons for not letting me live with Sirius."

"Are you insane?" said Harry **''** , in a deadly quiet voice, "That old fool doesn't care about you! He only does what he thinks his best from his point of view which is totally messed up!

Did he ever bother checking on us when we suffered at the hands of the Dursley's! Did he tell you about the vaults? Has he ever done anything that has not led you into danger!"

Harry's **''** eyes were glinting with anger and Harry was staring back at Harry **''** with equally hard eyes.

"What vaults?" asked Harry, once Harry **''** had stopped his rant.

The anger vanished and was replaced by astonishment.

"You don't know?" he said in shock.

"Don't know what?" asked Harry, looking annoyed.

"So this is what I'd have become if I were sorted to Gryffindor," muttered Harry **''**.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Harry angrily.

"It means you're just a mindless follower of Dumbledore," said Harry **''** , "just like the rest of this order."

Harry had his wand out in a flash.

"I've had enough of your nonsense," he snarled. Harry **''** didn't even bother drawing his own.

"Just because you apparently don't have a good relationship with Dumbledore doesn't mean it is the same for me. He has done a lot for me and I'm sure, if he hasn't told me until now he has _good reason_ not to."

"Get that wand out of my face before I rip it out of your hands," said Harry **''** coolly. He couldn't believe this Harry wouldn't believe him. "Stubborn bastard," thought Harry. Just like you, said another voice in his head.

"Rip it from my hands?" said Harry with a laugh, "You don't even have your wand on you!"

Harry'' sighed, "I guess you don't have another power I have or else you would have realized what is going to happen now."

Harry tightened the grip on his wand.

Harry **''** brought out the magic within him with a twitch of his finger and Harry's wand was wrenched out from his hands.

"What the!" exclaimed Harry.

Harry **''** smirked as he caught the wand. His smirk turned into a frown when he looked at the wand closely.

"Another thing different in this world," he murmured.

"How the hell did you do that!" demanded Harry walking towards his counterpart furiously.

Harry **''** just raised his hand and Harry found he couldn't move. He was literally stuck where he was. Harry **''** then turned his palm upwards and Harry floated up and began to move towards his younger counterpart.

"W-what are you doing!" said Harry, panic creeping into his voice.

"Ssshhh," said Harry **''** softly, "We don't want to be waking the entire house now do we?"

"How are you doing this!" said Harry again, trying to force some confidence into his voice.

"This is something I learned I was capable of when I was four... moving things with a wave of my hand that is."

Harry **''** moved closer to Harry who was still afloat and was looking at Harry with a little fear in his eyes.

"You know, I was very curious to meet you at one point but now I'm just plain disappointed."

"Glad to hear that," spat Harry, anger and helplessness bubbling inside him.

"You're nothing compared to me," he continued, ignoring the interruption. "You don't have any elemental ability, nor do you have this ability _and_ your wand is nothing special as compared to mine."

Harry **''** sighed and let Harry down and threw his wand back at him which Harry caught deftly.

"Maybe someday you'll realize that Dumbledore is not always right and you'll learn to think for yourself and not let that old man think _for_ you," he said and turned back to head to his room.

"Stop," said Harry.

"What is it?" asked Harry **''** shortly.

"Why do you hate Professor Dumbledore so much? I agree that leaving us with the Dursley's wasn't the best of his decisions, but he didn't have a choice. They were the only family we had left. I don't know why he hasn't told me about having more vaults but maybe he was waiting to tell that to me when I came of age."

Harry **''** laughed. "Stop defending him. I don't hate him, I just dislike him and dislike the fact that he keeps trying to poke his nose where it doesn't belong. Have you ever seen him do the same with any other student apart from you? Are you telling me that they aren't any other students in the school who need protection from Voldemort?"

The expression on Harry's face said it all.

"I thought so. And do you really want to know the reason why Dumbledore hasn't told you about the vaults?

It's because Mum and Dad's will is there in them along with a number of old and rare books and a number of rare magical artifacts."

Harry's mouth dropped open. "Mum and Dad's will?" he whispered.

"That's right," said Harry **''** , "A will which clearly states that our parents wanted us to live with a good family. And the Dursley's cannot be classified as a good family can they?"

Harry couldn't take it anymore. He collapsed on the couch staring into the darkness surrounding them.

"Do you realize now?" said Harry **''** , "That you're nothing more than a chess piece to Dumbledore. And Dumbledore is the player. One side Dumbledore and the other side Voldemort."

"But then this is what the Dumbledore in my world is like. Maybe yours is not so bad but I doubt it."

"You could be right but you could also be wrong," said Harry. "Judging by the major differences between us, maybe there are a lot of differences in the world too."

Harry **''** snorted. "Somehow I think the differences are only limited to you and me. Everything else seems the same to me. Weasley is still a moron, Granger is still a bookworm and a pain in the butt, even Dumbledore seems the same to me but there is only one way to find out."

Harry frowned at the description of his friends.

"And what way is that?"

"Ask the goblins or ask Dumbledore himself," said Harry **''** simply.

.

.

"Let's just forget about the vaults for the moment shall we. I have a few questions of my own for you," said Harry.

Harry **''** was taken aback, he wasn't expecting that at all.

"Questions?" asked Harry **''**.

"Yes questions."

"Like what?"

"Like why you referred to my wand as nothing special."

"That's because it's not the same as mine," said Harry **''** easily.

"And yours is?"

"Absolutely."

"Why is that?"

Harry **''** sighed, "Why don't you see for yourself?" he said and summoned his wand.

Harry looked at the wand and then back at Harry **''**. "It's beautiful," murmured Harry looking at the wand. "Mind if I hold it?"

"You can try," said Harry **''** with a grin.

Harry tried to hold the wand but it simply vanished and appeared in Harry's **''** left hand.

Harry blinked. "Okay, what was that?"

"Nobody can touch my wand except for me," said Harry''. "Making a long story short, this wand is as old as magic and it will work for no one except one who is more powerful than its owner."

Harry paused for an effect.

"It recognized me as its new owner when I placed my hands on it."

Harry looked at his younger self skeptically. "As old as magic?"

"That's just an expression for how old it is."

"And how do you know it is that old?"

"Because Ollivander told me."

"Mine doesn't compare to the history of your wand but it's special too," murmured Harry, trailing his fingers down the length of his own wand.

Harry **''** raised an eyebrow.

"It is the brother wand to Voldemort's wand. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches. Brother to the wand that gave us that scar."

"Holly and phoenix feather? Eleven and a half inches?" repeated Harry **''**.

"Yeah."

"Bloody hell! Lillian has the same wand!"

It was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow. "The same as mine?"

"Yeah, I remember Ollivander telling her that it was the wand that gave me this scar."

Harry groaned, "Your world is just screwed up!"

"I'd say it's this one that's so screwed up," replied Harry **''** with a grin.

They relapsed into silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.

"There's one thing I'd like to talk to you about though," said Harry suddenly.

"What is that?"

Harry hesitated wondering if he should tell him.

"Your apparent obsession with power," said Harry finally.

Harry **''** narrowed his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"When you disarmed me and had me literally at your mercy you said some things."

Harry **''** tensed.

"Maybe they were true, but the _way_ you said it and the glint in your eye when you said it reminded me of someone I don't need reminding off."

Harry **''** had a sense of déjà vu'. A conversation he had with Dumbledore flashed to the front of his mind.

"You reminded me of Tom Riddle when I faced him in our second year."

"I. Am. Nothing like him," ground out Harry **''** clenching his teeth.

"I didn't say you were, but you should realize that power isn't everything. The more power you have the more liable you are to loose yourself to darkness," said Harry. "That's what made Tom Riddle become Lord Voldemort... I think."

"And you're saying being powerful is not worth it?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. All I'm saying is there are things more important than being all powerful. Like friendship," he said.

"You sound like the old man," said Harry **''** grumpily. "And here I was hoping to be rid of his _wise_ words."

Harry laughed. "I'm serious," he said. "Back there you could have just disarmed me and told me what you think about Dumbledore but instead you held me in place and decided to belittle me and prove yourself to be more powerful."

"You started it," said Harry **''**. "You're the one who pointed the wand at me."

Harry's cheeks turned red, "Yeah, well, I have a problem keeping my temper in check," he said.

"Typical Gryffindor," muttered Harry''. "Practically wear their emotions on their sleeves."

Harry chose to ignore that comment.

"Look at the time," said Harry **''**. "It's almost four and you have a trial at ten."

Harry groaned.

"It's alright," said Harry **''** sympathetically, "If you do get expelled you can live here and help Kreacher with the house work."

"Yeah, that makes me feel _sooo_ much better!" said Harry sarcastically.

"Get some sleep Harry, you'll need to stay awake at the trial," he said and walked towards the stairs.

Harry **''** stopped near the bottom of the stair and turned back. "Good luck," he said and walked out of sight.

Harry looked at the fire place with a weird look on his face. "Did I just give a pep talk to myself?" he wondered.

Shaking his head he walked back to his own room, the sound of Ron's snores guiding him in the dark.

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Original World**

Lucius Malfoy walked with angry strides through the forests of Albania.

He was tired, had been attacked by a huge snake which he decapitated, had fallen into a bush which made him itchy all over and his hair had a number of twigs and leaves sticking out of it but he didn't stop.

He was on a mission and he was not going to leave until he found what he was looking for.

He went on and on until suddenly he realized that he could no longer hear the voices of the animals and birds that he had been hearing all along. It had become unnaturally silent and the place he found himself in reeked of death.

Lucius knew he was close. Gathering up his courage, he moved ahead. It steadily darker as he went deeper into the forest and he kept finding the bones of various animals scattered around. It was freaky.

He carefully avoided stepping on the bones of the dead creatures as he ventured further in. Suddenly he heard a slithering noise beside him and before he could when lift his wand a huge snake wrapped itself around him up till his neck and began crushing the life out of him.

" _Leave him Nagini,"_ came a hissing voice from behind him and he knew at that instant he had not found Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort had found him.

The snake uncoiled itself leaving Lucius gasping for breath. Lucius turned around slowly and his eyes widened in shock.

" _Forgetting your manners Lucius?"_

Lucius immediately dropped to his knees. "Forgive me My Lord," he said quickly, hiding the disgust he felt at the creature in front of him.

" _I disgust you Lucius?"_

 _"_ No My Lord! I just...," he said but his voice died out seeing the red eyes of his master.

" _Does this form of mine disgusts you Lucius?"_

"N-no."

" _Do not lie to me Lucius, for it disgusts me too."_

"My Lord, I have come to help you rise again," he said bowing his head.

 _"Help me rise again..."_ said Voldemort mockingly. _"How long have I waited for one of my faithful followers to come and find me but none came. So tell me Lucius, why are you here now when you could have come here 12 years ago?"_

 _"_ I believed you to be dead My Lord. It was only recently that I found out that you were well and I immediately set out to find my Lord and prove that my loyalty hasn't wavered."

There was silence.

 _"Loyalty Lucius?"_ hissed Voldemort dangerously.

 _"Wormtail!"_

A small balding fat man came shuffling out from behind a tree. His eyes darted to Voldemort and Lucius fearfully.

"Y-you called M-m-my Lord?"

 _"Lucius says he's loyal Wormtail,"_ hissed the Dark Lord. _"Loosen his tongue and let us hear the real reason why he is here."_

"Crucio!" shouted Wormtail, his eyes glinting maliciously.

Lucius's screams filled the air.

" _Stop_ ," said Voldemort after a few seconds.

" _Now Lucius, the real reason why you set out to find me."_

"T-to be in your good graces when you come back to power my Lord," gasped Lucius.

 _"You abandoned me Lucius and Lord Voldemort does not forget nor forgive mistakes so easily. Wormtail here has already received his share of punishment haven't you Wormtail?"_

Wormtail just shuddered and scurried back behind a tree.

 _"But you did come back to me Lucius and you shall be rewarded fittingly. And I am glad you have come for now I can put my plans into action much faster."_

"I await your commands my Lord," replied Lucius keeping his eyes glued to the ground.

 _"Good,"_ hissed Voldemort, a pleased expression on his mutilated face.

.

.

.

 _"Very Good."_


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 – Come back Soon**

 **Original World**

Albus Dumbledore was pleased. He had finally managed to recreate what and happened in the charms corridor and was a step closer to finding out what happened to his two students and to figure out if there was a way to bring them back. It had taken him days to figure out the right combination of spell work to activate the time sand.

He allowed himself to crack a smile as he lifted his wand and pointed it at the highly volatile sand which was lying in a small enchanted glass cup in the centre of his office.

He threw a quill into the glass and muttered a a sequence of spells under his breath.

Instantly the sand began to vibrate violently and was attracted to the quill like metal to a powerful magnet. The instant all of it covered the quill it was suddenly sucked into nothingness. It was as if it was sucked into a black hole.

But a second later, a hole appeared in mid air and the quill was spit out of it a few meters away from the glass.

Dumbledore smiled at his accomplishment. He had just discovered another way to travel. Now all that remained was to find a way to determine where the sand would send an object or a person if not protected like the quill.

The only reason the quill had not traveled to a place he could not locate was because of the immensely complex wards he had placed in an 8 meter radius around the glass. The wards in simple terms allowed things to enter but not exit, not even a phoenix could flame out if trapped in these wards. It was something that Fawkes had led him to discover and he was the only one that knew about them. After all, the knowledge of such wards could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.

A knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Come in Severus, Minerva," he said cheerfully.

"What are you up to Albus?" asked professor McGonagall on seeing Dumbledore with his wand pointed at a quill.

"Just an experiment," he said, his eyes twinkling. "One which has just made our search for our missing students much more clearer."

McGonagall's eyes widened while Snape just looked irritated.

"Albus!" she began but was interrupted by an irate potions master.

"Albus," he ground out, clenching his teeth. "I need to talk to you in private."

Dumbledore, sensing the urgency in Snape's voice told McGonagall that he would talk to her later.

McGonagall just pursed her lips and walked out without another word.

"What is the matter Severus?"

"I received a letter from Lucius Malfoy requesting me to visit him earlier this day."

"And did you go?"

"Yes," replied Snape. "He requested me to bring him some ingredients to prepare a potion."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "I take it the ingredients are not so easily found."

"Worse," sighed Snape. "They are all used for extremely dark potions and if the ingredients he has asked for are to be used in the same potion then I can think of only one such potion."

"Which is?" asked Dumbledore, uneasily.

"A potion to merge souls," said Snape looking straight into Dumbledore's eyes.

Dumbledore sighed and sank into his chair.

"So he's finally coming back then," said Dumbledore wearily.

"Lucius does not know what the ingredients are used for and I am sure the dark lord never intended for him to come to me for help," replied Snape.

"But why did Voldemort choose to find Lucius? I know for a fact that he's too weak to travel for long distances unless he has help and I just had confirmation that he was still in the forest of Albania four days ago."

"That's because the dark lord never went looking for Lucius. He'd never stoop to the level of asking his followers for help. It's because Lucius himself decided to find the dark lord. And this was because of something his son told him. Something about a conversation he heard at school and something about a prophecy," said Snape in an accusatory tone.

Dumbledore paled. "How is that possible? I had put up privacy wards around the area and several charms to make sure no student came wandering around while I was there!"

Snape glared at Dumbledore and said, "Lucius gifted his son an artifact which lets you eavesdrop on conversations. It let him listen to whatever you were talking about with Minerva and prevented him from being detected by you. On a brighter note he didn't hear anything clearly but clear enough to make him tell his father."

Dumbledore closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"The balance is shifting Severus," said Dumbledore solemnly.

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since Harry'' has disappeared, there has been a sudden increase in dark activity."

"What do you mean?"

"Look around you Severus. In the past week there has been an increase in werewolf sightings, vampires are suddenly showing themselves more often, even the centaurs have been extremely restless. Just yesterday Hagrid told me they kept giving him funny warnings. He said they kept going on about doomsday and things like that."

A shiver ran down Snape's back. "So what does this have to do with Potter?" he asked.

"What does this have to do with Harry! Severus, that boy is the only one who can vanquish Voldemort for good! We do not realize it, but there has always been a balance between the two sides of magic. Every time a dark lord rises, there was always someone to destroy him. It was me during Grindelwald's time; it was Gryffindor during Slytherin's time and now it his Harry's turn during Voldemort's time."

"I've already told you I don't believe that prophecy Albus," said Snape stiffly. "If anybody's going to defeat the dark lord, then its going to be you."

Dumbledore wanted to deny it but Snape didn't let him. "Anyhow I have told you what I have discovered and I want to know if I should give Lucius the ingredients or not?"

"Give it to him," said Dumbledore after a while. "That way you can gain Voldemort's trust. Also inform Lucius you know about the potion and you want to help. I'm sure he will not refuse your offer knowing that you are one the best potion master's in the country."

"I never thought I'd be doing this again Albus," said Snape with a sigh.

"You and I both knew it was bound to happen sooner or later Severus," said Dumbledore gently. "We knew that the peace was not to last forever and the time would come when we would be at war again.

Be strong Severus, for darkness is about to cloud the world again."

Severus sighed irritably, "Must you always be so dramatic!" he demanded.

Dumbledore gave an apologetic smile, "It comes with the job."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Alternate World**

Harry **''** was irritated. He absolutely couldn't stand being surrounded by all the Weasley's and the worst part was carrot tops mother kept trying to mother him and he didn't like that one bit!

Cursing under his breath he glared at everyone in the room even if they had done nothing to set him off.

Hermione kept rattling on and on about ministry laws to no one in particular, Ron kept staring at Hermione, listening to her with rapt attention.

The twins and Ginny were lying flat on the floor with something pink stuck in their ears which had a barely visible thread leading into the next room.

Lillian was busy talking to Lupin about god only knew what.

"Die," someone suddenly whispered into his ears menacingly.

Harry **''** jumped and spun around, his wand pointed at the source of the threat.

All he found was his rabid godfather laughing at him.

"Your face!" he said gasping and trying his best to stop laughing. "Priceless!"

Harry's **''** eye twitched in annoyance. "Black," he said in a deadly calm voice. "You have 3 seconds to run. 1... 2..."

Sirius's eyes widened as he scrambled up and ran out of the room as fast as he could.

But it was too late. Harry's **''** spell hit him in the back and he fell flat on the floor.

"You said 3 seconds!" he said groaning as he stood up. "What spell did you use?"

Harry **''** just smirked.

Sirius looked around and saw everyone staring at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

Just then Tonks walked in looking extremely haggard.

"Wotcher all," she said tiredly and then her eyes got stuck on Sirius.

"Oh, my god Sirius!" she shrieked.

"What, what!" he yelled panicking.

"When did you grow breasts!"

Sirius looked down and indeed saw that his chest was bigger than usual. He jumped and felt them jiggling.

His face grew red and the entire room burst out laughing.

"Where did you learn that spell Harry **''**!" asked the twins excitably.

Harry **''** just leaned back into the chair with a satisfied smirk in place.

"So, you want to mess with me again Sirius?" he said.

Sirius just smiled sweetly in return. "You've just started a war Harry **''** ," he said, rubbing his hands together. "And you're going to learn why we were the greatest pranksters in the history of Hogwarts."

"I can see your tits, Sirius," said Tonks suddenly. "You might want to consider wearing a bra!"

There was another round of uncontrollable laughter.

"Stop staring at them," he whined, covering his breasts.

"I'll get rid of them for you Sirius," said Hermione. "It's just a variation of the enlarging charm."

Harry **''** raised an eyebrow. Did she really think he'd use such an obvious spell! He just smiled and decided to watch their attempts at removing Sirius's assets.

"That's strange," muttered Hermione, "The counter curse is not working."

Sirius stared at her helplessly, "Does that mean I'm stuck with these!"

Lupin chuckled, "Move aside Hermione," he said gently. But even his efforts were useless. Frowning he cast another spell and his eyes widened in shock.

He turned towards Harry **''** , "You changed the levels of hormones in his system and completely changed their behavior in that region!" he exclaimed.

Harry **''** smirked, "Something like that, yeah. But it's more complicated than that. I replaced his hormones in that region with those similar to a woman and cast another aging spell which caused them to grow. So if Sirius were a woman, that's how his _chest_ would be at his age."

Harry **''** turned towards Hermione, "You're rather stupid to think I'd use a spell that could be removed so easily. There'd be no point in casting it in the first place."

Hermione turned red, while Lupin and Sirius looked at Harry **''** in awe. The rest just looked confused and amused.

"That... where did you learn how to do that!" asked Lupin in interest. He knew how to reverse the spell but it was rather fun seeing Sirius this way.

"Trade secret," said Harry **''**.

"So how do you undo it!" demanded Sirius. "I don't want to remain like this for the rest of my life!"

Ginny giggled.

"I'll remove them on one condition," said Harry **''**.

"If you want me forfeit the yet to start prank wars then you can forget it," said Sirius childishly.

Harry **''** just walked up to Sirius and whispered something in his ear.

Sirius's eyes widened in shock and then lit up with glee.

"It would be my pleasure Harry **''**. I can't believe you actually asked me!"

"I do a lot of unexpected things," said Harry **''** with a grin.

"Now remove these," said Sirius.

"I will," replied Harry **''**. "Only after the other me takes a look at them."

"Fine!" said Sirius throwing up his hands. "I shall parade around looking like half man and half babe. If I can't hide it, then I'll flaunt it."

"Good luck with that," said Harry **''.**

"Wait Sirius!" said Fred suddenly.

"What did you mean when you said you were the greatest pranksters in the history of Hogwarts?" asked George.

"You should know that Forge and Gred are the greatest pranksters in the history of Hogwarts!" said Fred.

"Except for the marauders though," added George.

"Except for the marauders," agreed Fred.

Sirius and Remus shared an incredulous look before breaking out in laughter again.

"May we ask what is so funny!" asked Fred.

"Hey Moony, how do you think they know about us?" asked Sirius.

"Maybe they found our map," replied Remus. "James had hidden it in Filch's office so that no one would find it."

Fred and George were staring at the two marauders with similar degrees of disbelief and shock.

"Are you saying," began Fred.

"That you are the incredible marauders?" said George.

"Who have inspired us ever since we found the map in Filch's office in our first year!" said Fred.

Remus and Sirius bowed. "They very same," they said in unison.

Fred and George literally had tears in their eyes.

"Our mentors," they began. "Our heroes, our inspiration"

With each word they took a step closer to the two marauders, who looked extremely pleased with themselves.

Suddenly the twins threw themselves at the two adults and grabbed their feet and held it close to them.

"Please teach us!" they wailed, "Help us learn new tricks and ways of pranking!"

Remus and Sirius were certainly not expecting this and tried their best to get out of the twins grip.

"What is going on in here!" screeched Mrs. Weasley.

Harry **''** rolled his eyes. Trust the woman to ruin the fun.

Fred and George stared at their mothers with wide eyes but still clung on to the two marauders who were struggling to free themselves.

"Let Remus and Sirius go at once!" she yelled.

The twins exchanged a look and let go.

"This is not the end," said George.

"We will corner you when you least expect it and make you spill all your secrets," added Fred.

"Oh my god!" screeched Molly again dropping the plate of cookies she had in her hands. "What in Merlin's name happened to you Sirius?"

Sirius frowned and then glared at Harry **''**. "Harry **''** decided to grow breasts on me," he said.

Mrs. Weasley stuttered and then rounded on dimensional traveler. "How dare you use magic in the house young man, you know you aren't supposed to until you are of age!"

Harry **''** just raised an eyebrow. "And who are you to stop me?" he asked her politely.

Mrs. Weasley spluttered and then narrowed her eyes at Harry **''**. If it were any other Weasley they would be cowering in fear but Harry **''** just stared back at her impassively.

"That is not the point! What if the ministry found out! You would be expelled from Hogwarts. Is that what you want?"

Harry **''** just smirked, "I'm not from this world so I don't stand the risk of being expelled. Secondly this house is under the fidelius charm so magic won't be detected by the ministry and thirdly, you are not my mother and I won't take any orders from you. So don't bother trying to _discipline_ me as you do with the rest of these idiots."

That said he turned his back on the stunned woman and headed back to his room.

"I'll remove those lovely assets when Harry **''** gets to see them Sirius," he said as he left.

As soon as he was out of the room he punched the wall in frustration. "Damn that bitch for ruining my mood," he said in anger. For once he was having a good time watching the twins act the fool and then she had to come and ruin it.

Taking deep breaths, Harry **''** tried to calm himself and made his way to the cellar instead of his room. He needed to cool his head and blasting things would certainly make him feel good.

He entered the cellar and immediately locked the door behind him.

He went to the other end of the cellar and tapped his wand thrice on the third brick from the bottom left.

The bricks suddenly rearranged themselves to reveal a small room behind it. Inside was a table and a small shelf with two to three books Harry had taken from the library. There was also an orange ball of light hovering near the roof providing the room with enough light.

This was a room Harry **''** had created for his study of the things which he didn't want anybody to know about.

He collapsed into his chair and leaned back stretching his arms.

His table had a few papers on it, along with the things he had on him when he came to this world. There was Slytherin's ring lying innocently in a glass casing and there was the letter Blaise wrote to him regarding the Mona Lisa. He picked up the ring and after examining it closely he slipped it in his pocket.

He was rather proud of his room as it had taken him a lot of time and patience to perfect the spell to conjure space within space. In reality the room wasn't supposed to be there as there wasn't anything beyond the wall. It was a room created within the wall itself and enlarged by magic.

Sighing he wondered how Harry was doing. Whether he had been expelled or had he been cleared of all his charges. Frankly he didn't care but the thoughts ran through his mind anyway. The main thing he worried about was getting back home in one piece.

"Damn it," he growled, running his hand through his hair messing it up. He didn't know why he was so frustrated but he just was. He summoned a book from the shelf with the title 'Time Travel'. Out all the books he had looked through in the Black library, not a single one had even the slightest details about dimension traveling. All they said was traveling through dimensions was simply a work of fiction and there was no real proof of alternate dimensions even existing.

"And I suppose I'm just dreaming am I?" he grumbled.

He rubbed his scar absently flicking through the book in hopes of finding something but to no avail.

He glanced at the map he found in the vault and felt disappointed that the Mona Lisa had been destroyed when an insane thought struck him.

What if the Mona Lisa was not destroyed in this world! What if it was still there!

Shaking in excitement Harry **''** got up and tapped the wall leading to the cellar. But to his shock as soon as the wall opened up a ball of fire came hurtling towards him.

He blocked it with a wall of water out of instinct.

"What the hell!" he exclaimed.

He waved his hands trying to clear the smoke and his eyes widened in shock when he spotted Lillian standing in the centre of the room, her hands on her knees panting.

"Potter," she said in surprise. "Where did you come from!"

"How did you get in here?" asked Harry **''** in return.

"Through the door," she said narrowing her eyes. "But I can't say the same for you."

"It doesn't matter where I came from," replied Harry **''**. "How did you get in? The door was locked."

Lillian shrugged, "I burned the lock," she said.

Harry **''** rubbed his forehead in annoyance, "And why would you do that?"

"Because it wouldn't open," she shot back. "There wasn't any sign saying do not disturb was there?"

"What are you doing here anyway?" asked Harry **''** tiredly.

"Practicing," she said shortly. "Now if you don't mind I need to get back to work."

Harry **''** looked at her closely. She had her wand in one hand and the other seemed to be a little black. She also seemed a little worn out and her clothes had a few burn marks on them. He glanced around and saw scorch marks everywhere.

"Don't you think the fire will spread when you use your ability?"

"I'm not a fool Potter," she snapped. "I placed an anti fire charm around the room before doing anything."

"What if someone hears you and comes down to inquire?"

"There's a silencing charm in place and nobody in the right mind will come down in this empty place."

"You did," pointed out Harry **''**.

"To practice," she said irritably. "Now will you get out!"

Harry **''** smirked, "I was here before you, so maybe you should be the one to get out."

"Don't talk like that to me," she snapped. "You appeared out of _nowhere_ and you want _me_ to get out! I'd like to see you try," she said with a scoff.

"What do you need you wand for?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Look, it's none of your concern Potter! So why don't you piss off and let me be!"

Harry **''** didn't move.

"You asked for it," she growled and sent a ball of fire at him.

Harry **''** conjured a ball of water of his own and threw it in the path of the fire. They collided with a hiss and dissipated.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" yelled Harry **''** angrily.

"I am NOT in the mood to play games Potter! So will you please get the hell out of here!"

Harry **''** took a deep breath trying to calm himself before he decided to froze her into a block of ice.

"Not until you tell me why you just tried to fireball me."

Lillian glared at him trying to get him to back down but Harry **''** glared right back. He wasn't going to leave until he got a proper answer.

Finally Lillian broke the staring contest and her shoulders drooped.

"It's my elemental ability," she said. "Since yesterday it's been acting all weird. My temper seems to be on the edge and I keep having these sudden outbursts. Just now during breakfast a fireball almost erupted out of my hands but I managed to control it."

Harry's **''** look of annoyance turned to one of concern. "When did this start happening?" he asked her urgently.

"Yesterday, I guess," she replied. "That's why I came down here. I just had blast some thing apart."

"This is not good," muttered Harry **''**.

Lillian frowned, "Why do you think this is happening?"

"I think," began Harry **''** slowly, "The longer we stay in this world, the more it will effect us. We do not belong here and if we do not get back to our world soon we might be in big trouble."

"We need to talk to Dumbledore," she said.

Harry **''** nodded in agreement, "You on the other hand need to stay calm and if you feel like your about to lose control of your fire then get down here and release it."

Lillian sighed, "What about you? You don't seem to have any trouble with your element."

"Not yet," said Harry **''** , "I have good control over it and hopefully it won't start acting up like yours."

Lillian narrowed her eyes, "You make it sound like I have no control over mine at all!"

"You're the one who's having trouble controlling it not me," Harry **''** shot back.

"Arse," mumbled Lillian.

Harry **''** just rolled his eyes. "Just make sure you don't fry anyone by accident," he said and walked out of the cellar.

"He still didn't tell me from where he came from," she grumbled.

Sighing she decided to go back and maybe chat with Ginny for a while when she saw a ring lying on the floor.

Curious she picked it up and gasped at its beauty. She slowly trailed her fingers along the ring admiring the feeling of the emeralds in place.

"Wonder if it will fit me," she muttered and tried slipped the ring on to her index finger.

.

.

.

It was a perfect fit. Smiling she tried to remove it but it wouldn't budge.

She frowned in annoyance and tried pulling harder but the ring simply tightened its hold making her gasp in pain.

"Why is this thing stuck!" she said panicking. "What if it's Harry's **''**!" she said panicking even more, "That jerk will kill me!"

She tried pulling the ring out for another 10 minutes but it was useless.

"Get out of my finger you stupid ring!" she yelled and pulled even harder.

But all of a sudden her hands started heating up and three fireballs shot out scorching the walls of the cellar.

Lillian's eyes widened and she immediately forced herself to calm down.

"Calm down Mary," she said to herself and kept repeating it over and over again until she was sure she wasn't going to produce more fireballs.

"Now all I can do is keep my hand out of sight and hope nobody notices the ring."

Sighing, she slowly made her exit from the cellar wondering what on earth had she done in her past life to get into so much trouble in this one.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Original World**

Severus Snape was scared. Nothing ever scared him, but seeing the dark lord in the form of a mutilated baby with red slits instead of eyes would be enough to make anyone want to scream and run away.

Thanking his Occlumancy for the umpteenth time, he held the dark lords gaze and replied.

"I never betrayed you my Lord and I regret believing that you had indeed died like the ministry had the entire wizarding world believe."

" _Lucius,"_ hissed Voldemort.

Lucius simply nodded and cast the cruciatus curse on Snape.

Snape's screams were like music to Lord Voldemort's ears.

Snape was panting on the floor shaking uncontrollably once the curse was lifted.

" _Now all I want to know is that does Dumbledore know about my return or not?"_

Snape gulped and reinforced his shields. "No, My Lord."

Voldemort stared into the potion masters eyes and then nodded, apparently satisfied with Snape's answer.

" _Very well, Snape. You haven't lied to me so far and I do hope do won't in the near future or else you_ _ **will**_ _regret it_."

"Thank you my Lord."

" _Now is the potion ready?"_

"Yes My Lord. I have also drawn the necessary runes but there is a minor problem," said Snape.

" _A problem... Snape?"_

"To bring your body back you need to merge souls with the host."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes.

" _Explain,"_ he hissed, sending shivers down Lucius and Snape's spines.

"The potion essentially brings back your body as it was before it was destroyed. But for your magic to be restored to its original levels, the potion will need a soul. That is the purpose of the runes. The runes consume the hosts soul and body and will resurrect yours in return."

The dark lord's lips curled into a cruel smile.

" _And does it matter whose soul is used?"_

"No My Lord, even if you managed to use a person as powerful as Dumbledore, your magic levels will still remain the same as they were before you were vanquished."

" _How do you know this Snape? Have you ever performed this ritual?"_

Snape hesitated. "I sneaked into Dumbledore's private library and found several books which were written by Slytherin himself. In one of these he describes the ritual in detail and apparently he performed it on himself."

" _I would very much like to get my hands on this book Severus!"_ he said, his voice suppressed with sadistic glee.

Snape chose not to reply.

"My Lord," interrupted Lucius.

" _What is it Lucius?"_

"Whom shall we use for the ritual?"

The dark lord was silent for a while before he started laughing. " _Come out Wormtail,"_ he hissed.

"M-my Lord?" stuttered Peter, clearly terrified that he was going to be the one to die.

Snape's eyes widened in shock when he saw Peter. He couldn't believe it! Peter Pettigrew was alive! But how is that possible, he thought. Sirius Black had killed Peter unless... unless Black was innocent and Peter was the real betrayer!

Snape's head was swimming with disbelief.

" _I see you're rather stunned Severus?"_

"I-I don't understand My Lord?"

" _You're wondering why Peter Pettigrew is at my side and not Sirius Black,"_ stated the dark lord simply.

Snape nodded.

" _It's because Peter was my spy in the Order of the Phoenix. He was the Potter's secret keeper and he framed Sirius Black for the murder of the pathetic muggles."_

Voldemort laughed at the look on Snape's face, if the noise he made could be considered a laugh.

" _Now Snape,"_ said the dark lord, his face suddenly becoming menacing. " _What have you told the old fool about you vanishing for a day?"_

"That I am collecting ingredients for the next potions class," replied Snape swiftly.

" _Good,"_ hissed Voldemort, " _Now I want you to go back and tell him you're taking leave for a week due to whatever reason you come up with and I want you back here within the hour."_

"Yes, My Lord."

" _And Lucius, Wormtail,"_ he said suddenly _, "You will go and bring me Bartimius Crouch."_

"May I ask why My Lord?" said Lucius hesitantly.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes, " _Are you questioning me Lucius?"_

"No My Lord," he said hurriedly, "I was just..."

" _You were just nothing Lucius! I expect you to follow orders without questions... and do not think for one moment that you have been forgiven. No... All of you who abandoned me shall suffer the consequences. Now leave... all of you!"_

Lucius and Peter practically ran out, but Severus stayed behind.

" _What is it Snape?"_

"My Lord," began Snape slowly, "Why do you not want to use Harry Potter to restore your body?"

Voldemort looked pleased at the question, " _Because I will kill the boy in a duel to death myself,"_ he hissed dangerously, _"I will not have him die by this ritual... he will die begging for mercy, just like his mudblood mother."_

Voldemort's red eyes seemed to burn into Snape's eyes and Snape could see the fury burning in those eyes.

" _Now get out,"_ he spat.

Snape bowed and walked out calmly though his heart was racing at a million miles a second. Boy did he have a report for Albus.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Alternate World**

Harry was rolling on the ground laughing like there was no tomorrow. Ginny and the twins were dancing around the table imitating an Indian war dance yelling on the top of there voices. Hermione was screaming at Ron for splattering food on her shirt, Mrs. Weasley was yelling at the twins, trying to make them stop and Sirius was begging Harry **''** to get rid of his melons!

All in all, it was a total scene of chaos in the dinning hall of number 12 Grimmauld place.

"STOP THIS RACKET RIGHT NOW!" screamed Mrs. Weasley.

"Please Harry **''** please make me a complete man! Please get rid of these wonderful things that belong only on hot women!" cried Sirius.

"NEXT TIME LEARN NOT TO STUFF YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU EAT!" screeched Hermione.

"You, you look beeeeuuutiful Sirius," said Harry, still unable to stop laughing.

Lillian was laughing at everybody with a toast in her mouth and Mr. Weasley was trying to get everyone to calm down.

"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF!" yelled the twins and Ginny adding a sonorous charm to their vocal cords.

That got Mrs. Black to start screaming again and Sirius and Mr. Weasley ran to the corridor to get her to shut up and Sirius thankfully had his assets removed by Harry.

Once the portrait was quiet again, the dinning hall was quiet too. Mrs. Weasley had put a silencing charm on the twins and her youngest, Hermione had, had her shirt cleaned by Lillian and Harry and Harry **''** were talking about the proceedings at the ministry.

"How did everything become so calm?" asked Sirius looking aghast. He was enjoying the noise so much! There was rarely any activity in the house.

"Be happy things have settled down Sirius," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "Honestly, what inspired all of you to act like morons!"

"Your constant nagging," muttered Harry **''** in a low voice but Harry heard him.

Harry just rolled his eyes and grinned at Ron who was laughing openly at the twins who were being scolded by Mrs. Weasley.

Something shinning on the table caught Harry's **''** attention. He looked carefully and his eyes widened in shock at the sight.

Slytherin's ring was on Lillian's finger! She was actually wearing Slytherin's ring! Lillian was actually wearing Slytherin's ring, he thought with disbelief.

He quickly felt his pockets and realized it must fallen out when he fell in the basement.

He stood up slowly and walked towards Lillian.

"We need to talk... now," he told her, his voice barely a whisper, but one could detect the underlying anger in his voice.

Lillian just gulped and followed him without a question. She had a good idea what this was about.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Original World**

Albus Dumbledore could feel a massive headache build in his forehead. Snape had just left a few minutes back and the information he had given Dumbledore had in simple terms left him spell bound.

Peter Pettigrew was alive, Sirius Black was innocent, Lord Voldemort was going to be resurrected in a week and he didn't know how long it would take him to fully understand what happened to his most unique students and how in Merlin's name he was to bring them back from wherever they were!

The headmaster summoned a parchment and wrote down the things he had to do.

First was to find a headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, but he was sure he would find the perfect headquarters if he found Sirius Black.

That changed his first priority. It was now to find Sirius Black at all costs before the ministry found him and administered the kiss.

"I hope I can bring you back soon Harry **''** ," whispered Dumbledore to no one in particular. "If not, we are doomed."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A few miles away from Hogwarts, a big black dog which could make superstitious wizards think they've just seen the grim, made his way towards the castle. The dog had not received a reply from his godson for a long time and was worried about his safety. It also couldn't wait any longer to kill the rat that had ruined his life.

Little did Sirius know, the rat was already reunited with its master, Harry was stuck in an alternate dimension and Hogwarts was being guarded by the most feared dark creatures in the wizarding world.

Things were moving fast indeed.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24 – Mona Lisa - Part 1**

 **Original World**

"Hermione, have you seen Scabbers around?" asked Ronald Weasley.

"No, why?"

"I can't find him anywhere!" exclaimed Ron. After a moment of silence he added, "I hope your cat didn't eat him."

"Of course not," replied Hermione shrilly, "I've made sure he doesn't enter your stinking dorm anyway!"

"Alright, alright," muttered Ron, "I'm just worried about Scabbers that's all."

"Don't worry then," snapped Hermione, "He was useless anyway."

Ron glared at her but didn't say anything for fear of causing another row between the two.

 **Flashback**

"Can you believe it!" said Dean Thomas, "Potter and Austin apparating within Hogwarts!"

"I can't," mumbled Ron, "Hermione's been going on and on about how you can't apparate within the walls of Hogwarts. Frankly my ears must have had the word imprinted in them by now."

Seamus sniggered, "Yeah, well we all know how passionate Granger is about studies and Hogwarts."

"Too true," said Ron.

"Do you think they'll be fine?" said Neville nervously.

"Who?" asked Ron.

"Whom do you think you idiot," said Dean, rolling his eyes. "Potter and Austin, that's who!"

"I don't care about Potter," said Ron, "I'm hoping he's injured bad enough so that he doesn't come back here, or he should do the world a favor and just snuff it."

"You'd want that to happen to Lillian too?" asked Neville strangely.

"Of course not!" exclaimed Ron. "Why would you even suggest that, she's my best friend!"

Dean and Seamus snorted.

"What was that for?" asked Ron, confused.

"Maybe you should open your eyes mate," said Seamus, "I've hardly seen you and Granger hanging out with Austin nowadays. Half the time either she's on her own or she's talking to Potter."

"WHAT! Where did Potter come into this!" he shouted.

"Its true," said Dean, "They're kinda friends, even though Potter would deny it. I honestly don't know what his definition of friends is."

"And to top it off, Austin supported Harry last year when everyone thought he was the heir of Slytherin and it turns out she was right."

"Mary is NOT friends with Potter and nor will she ever be friends with Potter," said Ron firmly.

"You're the only one who thinks that mate," said Seamus. "And I'm sure even Hermione will agree with us."

"No she won't," said Ron adamantly.

Dean and Seamus just rolled their eyes.

"Do you think Sirius Black is going to come to Hogwarts?" said Neville in a small voice, hoping to change the direction of the conversation. He knew Harry Potter was a very dangerous subject to bring up around Ron.

A rat snoozing comfortable pillow woke up with a squeak. It had just heard Sirius Black and Hogwarts in the same sentence and that was definitely not good.

"I think he is," replied Dean, "According to a few people he's coming to kill Potter for getting rid of You Know Who."

The rat began to tremble in fear. How could he have escaped Azkaban! thought the rat in panic. And it knew if Black was coming to Hogwarts to kill someone, it was going to be him, Peter Pettigrew and no one else.

"Yeah but he can't kill Potter if he's not here is he," said Ron, "Pity," he added.

Wait, what was that? thought Peter. Harry Potter was not at Hogwarts? What was going on? He knew sleeping so much was a bad idea, even if it was relaxing.

"Maybe Potter has gone into hiding because of that!" exclaimed Seamus, "He knew Black was going to come after him and maybe his apparating was just a diversion from the truth!"

Ron was ready to believe him.

"They disappeared right in front of us Seamus," said Dean, "And even if he did go into hiding, that doesn't explain why Austin disappeared too."

Ron looked disappointed.

"Ma-maybe we should sleep now," said Neville, it made him nervous when he stayed up to long. "It's getting late and we have class tomorrow."

"Yeah, Neville's right," said Ron. "Goodnight guys, goodnight Scabbers," he said. A few seconds later, his loud snores could be heard throughout the dorm.

"Wanker," muttered Dean and put his ear plugs on and went to sleep himself.

30 minutes later, when Scabbers was sure everyone was asleep, he leapt of Ronald's bed, transformed and made his way to the fifth years dorm. He needed a certain map to enact the terrible plan forming in his head.

If there was one thing Peter Pettigrew was good at, it was escaping. And right now he had to escape from a mad dog that was certainly going to kill him if it found him. He knew he could no longer stay at Hogwarts because sooner or later Sirius would expose the truth about him if the dog was caught and with Lupin around, there was always the fear of being recognized by the wolf. If he were to stay alive there was only one place to go… a place he never wanted to return to again.

He knew where the map was hidden by the twins and once he checked it he realized that what the kids had said was true. Harry Potter was no longer in Hogwarts.

He put the old parchment back in its place and transformed again. With fear guiding his heart Peter fled from the castle. His old master was the only one who could protect him and keep him alive and Peter certainly didn't want to die.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Alternate World: Harry's'' Room.**

"Where did you find that ring?" hissed Harry **''** angrily.

"What's it to you?" replied Lillian, equally hostile.

"What's it to me? You know damn well that ring is mine! I saw it in your eyes the moment I asked you to follow me out of the kitchen!"

Lillian glared at him. "I found it in the cellar. It didn't have your name stamped on it so I put it on," she snapped.

Harry **''** was confused. "But how on earth did you manage to put it on!" he shouted.

Now Lillian was confused, "What do you mean how I put it on? I just slipped it on my finger and it fit perfectly. The only problem is that it won't come off!"

Harry **''** and Lillian glared at each other, both silently daring the other to say something.

Finally Harry **''** sighed and took a deep calming breath and said, "Austin, could you please explain to me where you found _my_ ring and what do you mean it won't come off?"

Lillian simply continued glaring at Harry.

"If you start talking, then maybe I can tell you why the ring won't come off."

That got her talking.

"Like I said," she began, "I found it lying on the floor after you left. It must have fallen out of your pocket. It looked really beautiful and it felt like the ring _wanted_ me to put it on," she said irritably. "So then I put it _on_ and now it refuses to come off!"

She tried pulling the ring off to emphasis her point.

Harry stared at her incredulously. "Haven't you learnt not to touch any unknown magical artifact in the wizarding world?"

Lillian sighed in annoyance, "How was I to know it was a ring that would get stuck to your finger."

"And yeah, about the ring," began Harry slowly "Did you bother examining it before you put it on?"

"Yeah," she said. "Why?"

"Did you examine it properly, every nook and cranny?"

"Maybe," she said biting her lip.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Meaning you didn't," he said flatly.

"Whatever Potter," she said hotly. "Now will you kindly remove this thing off!"

"I can't," said Harry simply. "I was never even able to put in on my finger."

"What do you mean?" asked Lillian perplexed.

"That ring belonged to Salazar Slytherin. I could not wear that ring because I am not a descendent of Slytherin. And the only way that ring would accept you is if you were a descendent of Slytherin himself."

Lillian looked even more bewildered. But then she two and two together and her eyes widened in horror.

"But-but," she spluttered.

"But that can't be true because you're muggleborn," stated Harry **''** dryly and Lillian nodded wordlessly.

"But I'm a Gryffindor," she said in a small voice staring at the ring. "There's no way in hell I could be a descendent of Slytherin."

"The thought crossed my mind too and I completely agree. And the fact that your not even a parselmouth."

Lillian didn't say anything. But the look in her eyes said it all.

"Oh my god, you're not a Parselmouth are you!"

"I am," she said in a small voice.

Harry **''** looked at her in disbelief. "How!"

"I wish I knew," she muttered.

Harry **''** just shook his head trying to get over this latest revelation when a thought struck him.

"Well, I think I might know how to find out if you're a descendent of Slytherin or not."

"How?" asked Lillian.

"We find out more about your mother," he said.

"My mother was a muggle Potter," she said with a dry laugh.

"Really?" said Harry sarcastically, "because if you're mother was a muggle then you're father has to be a wizard. The ability to speak parseltongue is supposed to be a blood trait."

"Then how can you speak it?" she shot back.

"I can speak it because the night Voldemort attacked me some of his powers were transferred to me."

"Oh."

"Whereas you on the other hand haven't had any dark lords with Slytherin blood in them attack you," he said with a smirk.

Lillian rolled her eyes.

"Rolling your eyes is not going to change the fact that you have Slytherin's ring stuck on your finger."

"Well what am I supposed to do!" she said exasperatedly.

Harry **''** thought for a moment and then said, "Well I suppose we could conceal it."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Using magic dimwit," he said rolling his eyes.

That said he removed his wand and cast a concealment charm on the ring hiding it from view from everyone.

Lillian stared at her finger, "I can still feel it."

"Of course you will... you just can't see it that's all."

Lillian sighed, "Now what?"

Harry had a strange gleam in his eye, "Now nothing, but when we get back home, lots of things. Now let's get back before the others start getting worried about your safety."

"My safety?"

"I'm a Slytherin remember? Evil and most likely to do bad things?" he said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Better get going before Ron comes barging in yelling about how evil you are and how he was sure you were going to do _things_ to me," she said with a giggle.

"How could I forget Weasley," said Harry in mock horror, walking out of his room. "Spit flying out of his mouth, yelling incoherently and Granger trying to hold him back and prevent him from doing anything stupid."

Lillian laughed, "Now why don't I remember that ever happening?"

"That's because you weren't there. I believe it was during our second year, a few days after his brothers were petrified."

Lillian frowned, "How come they never told me about that?"

"It might have something to do with me vanishing Weasley's pants leaving him standing in front of Granger in his boxers," said Harry with a grin.

"Oh my god, you didn't!"

"I did. And Weasley never bothered me much after that."

"Oh my god," said Lillian again, laughing as she imagined Hermione's face seeing Ron in his boxers! But as a result she didn't watch where she was going.

"Look out!" yelled Harry **''** as Lillian missed a step on the staircase.

Lillian yelped as she began to fall. Downstairs the Weasley kids saw her fall and rushed towards the stairs, but it was too late.

But then something unexpected happened.

.

.

.

Lillian vanished in a ball of flames and reappeared at the bottom of the stairs in the same position and fell flat on her face.

There was stunned silence in the house.

That was until Lillian got up holding her nose and eyes scrunched in pain.

Mrs. Weasley ran to Lillian waving her wand frantically, trying to find out if she was hurt in anyway.

"I'm fine Mrs. Weasley," said Lillian. "Will someone please tell me what happened!"

"That's what I'd like to know," said Fred, looking at Lillian with wide eyes.

"Yeah, me too," said Hermione who was staring at Lillian like she'd want nothing more than to experiment on her. "You just vanished in a ball of fire before you fell and the next thing we know you're at the bottom of the stairs!"

Lillian was confused. "What?"

"Don't be ridiculous Hermione," snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"Maybe it was accidental magic," suggested Harry.

"It's true mum," said Ron, ignoring his best friend's comment. "We saw her."

"Whoa, Whoa, hold up!" shouted Lillian. "What do you mean I vanished in a _ball of flame!"_

"Exactly what it means, "said Ron, "You vanished in a ball of flame when Potter tripped you and appeared at the bottom of the stairs. It was like you apparated leaving a trail of fire. Ask Potter."

"How'd you do it?" asked George.

Lillian was scared. She didn't understand what had just happened, but she did know that her elemental side had just gone berserk before she fell. And now everyone was claiming she apparated or whatever! And what did Ron mean when he said Harry **''** tripped her!

Mrs. Weasley sensing Lillian's distress shooed all her sons away and the lone witch and took Lillian to the kitchen.

"It's alright dear, we'll figure out what happened. Until then why don't get something for you to eat?" she said kindly.

Lillian just nodded, wanting to clear her head and think rationally.

Harry **''** on the other hand had his mind working in over drive. He honestly had no idea what had just happened but he was sure that Lillian's magic had just saved her from a very nasty fall. The question was, was it another elemental ability or was it just a bout of accidental magic?

On top of that the Weasley's had seen her disappear and he knew that once that information got to Dumbledore he would no doubt put the pieces together and uncover her secret. Thankfully his was still safe and he didn't have any intention of changing that.

The point was they had to get out of this world soon and soon meant real soon. If more people found out about them, sooner or later unwanted people would find out about them and then all hell would break loose.

From what Blaise had told him, the reason elementals stayed hidden from the rest of the world was because every wizard go out of their way to capture one and use them for their own purpose.

Thankfully the world had forgotten about them and hopefully it would stay that way.

Harry **''** shook his head warily, trying to clear his mind. Being magical is extremely complicated, he thought.

He made his way down the stairs and headed to the dining hall. There was another plan he needed to put into action.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry **''** walked into the living room in search of Hermione. No matter how much he detested being around her and the Weasel, he couldn't deny that she was extremely knowledgeable and could be the only one who knew what he wanted to know.

He found the three friends sitting near the fire place playing a game of exploding snap.

"Hey Hermione," said Harry **''**.

Ron narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"What do you want?" asked Hermione, equally suspicious.

Harry **''** rolled his eyes, "Maybe I just wanted to say hi."

The elder Harry snorted. "The day you say hi to us because you felt like it is the day I tell Malfoy I love him."

Harry **''** grinned, "Point taken." Turning back to Hermione and said, "I wanted a little information."

"What kind of information?"

"Don't tell him anything Hermione," said Ron, who had kept quiet until now, but was eying Harry **''** with distrust.

"Nothing too bad," replied Harry'', ignoring Ron. "I just wanted to know about the Mona Lisa."

Hermione's eyes lit up in surprise, "The Mona Lisa!"

"Yes, the Mona Lisa."

"Well, the Mona Lisa, also known as the La Gioconda, was a masterpiece painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in the 16th century. I don't know much about its history but it is said that it took Da Vinci over 5 years to complete the painting. Currently it is in the Louvre museum in Paris."

Harry **''** was silent for a moment. "Was there ever any incident in the museum, like a fire breakout or something?

Hermione frowned, "I'm not sure, but I think I remember reading somewhere that there was a fire in the museum about 15 to 20 years ago but no famous paintings were damaged. The fire was contained before it could do any more harm."

"Where could you have possibly read that Hermione!" asked Harry in amazement.

"I read books Harry," retorted Hermione in annoyance. "And this one happened to be about art!"

Harry **''** on the other hand nodded his head absently, while Hermione decided to enlighten him about the other famous paintings kept in the Louvre museum and about how Da Vinci was actually a squib who made a life for himself in the muggle word. Ron tuned her voice out losing interest in the conversation and the only one left listening was Harry.

"Why do you want to know about it anyway?" asked Harry. "From what I know it's a muggle painting."

"Don't be silly Harry," admonished Hermione. "Just because it's a muggle painting doesn't mean it can't be interesting."

"Do you really want to know?" asked Harry **''** with a knowing smile.

"Of course," replied Harry.

"Leonardo Da Vinci wasn't born Leonardo Da Vinci. His real name was Leonard Potter."

Stunned silence greeted him.

"Are you telling us that Da Vinci was a Potter?" gasped Hermione.

"That's right. The Mona Lisa is actually the portrait of his mother or some relation of the Potters," he said. "I'm surprised you never bothered to look into your past Harry," he added, looking at his older counterpart.

Harry shrugged uncomfortably, "Never felt the need to," he said.

Hermione on the other hand was looking at Harry **''** with burning curiosity. "How do you know all this?" she demanded. "I've looked up every possible book regarding the Potters and I have never found a single one which goes anything beyond Harry's parents!"

"I have better sources," said Harry **''** smugly.

Hermione huffed. "If you have better sources then why ask me about it in the first place?"

"Just wanted a muggle perspective of the painting," said Harry **''** nonchalantly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Didn't grow up in the _muggle_ world!" she said, stressing on the word muggle.

Harry **''** winced and glanced at Harry. "Let's just say I wasn't much aware of the world around me until I became eleven."

Hermione just rolled her eyes not understanding what Harry **''** meant.

"Anyway thanks for your input," said Harry **''** and walked out of the room. He felt his stomach growl and decided to go to the kitchen and have something to eat.

Back in the living room Harry was staring at Hermione with a frown.

"What?" she asked him.

"You never told me you had tried to find out about my family," he said.

Hermione blushed, "It was a long time ago, back in our first year when we weren't friends yet," she said, not looking him in the eye. "I was very curious about you."

"And you've never tried to find out more ever since?"

"N-no."

"You're lying," said Harry.

"Ok fine, I might have asked Dumbledore about it in our third year," she said, biting her lower lip.

"We were friends then... weren't we?" asked Harry flatly.

Hermione sighed, "Look, Harry. I didn't want to tell you because I never found anything. Even Dumbledore didn't know much."

"What did he know?"

Hermione looked extremely uncomfortable. "I promised him I wouldn't say anything to you unless the facts were right Harry."

Harry tried to control his temper, "Hermione, you better start talking before I lose my temper," he said angrily.

"He just told me that your family had a long history," she said hurriedly, "He said your family was very, very rich but he didn't know anything else."

Harry was fuming internally. Harry **''** was right he thought. Dumbledore _was_ keeping things from him.

"Harry?" called Hermione nervously.

"You should have told me Hermione," said Harry.

"You're right," she said, "and I'm really sorry."

Harry sighed. "It's alright, all's forgiven."

Hermione looked relieved.

"Did Dumbledore tell you anything about my Gringotts vault by any chance Hermione?"

"No he didn't, why?"

"No reason," he said, thinking about what his younger self had told him about the two other vaults belonging to him. He hadn't believed him then but he was certainly starting to believe him now.

Maybe it was time to make a visit to Gringotts and find out for sure.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry **''** entered the kitchen hoping to find it empty.

He sighed in relief when he just found Lillian sitting on a stool staring at the wall. Usually he would get annoyed by her mere presence but now it was nothing. If he would have thought more about it he would say it was strangely comforting!

"Hey," he said, startling her.

"Oh, hey," she replied dully and went back to staring at the wall.

Harry **''** frowned. Usually she'd scowl and just ignore him. This time it was just a glance and no look of hostility.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" he asked.

"My knickers are perfectly fine, thank you very much," she said glancing at him and went back to staring at the wall.

Harry **''** just stood there trying to figure out what was wrong with her when it struck him.

"You feeling any different?" he asked hesitantly.

"Hmmm, what do you mean?" she asked.

"Hello? You just apparated in fire or whatever! Surely you must be feeling something or at least wondering what exactly happened!"

"Of course I wondering what happened, you jerk!" she snapped. "But lucky for you I figured it out."

Harry **''** blinked. "You did?"

"Yep," she said with a triumphant look. "The reason my element has been reacting so much is because I'm maturing. And the reason it hasn't been happening to you is because girls mature faster than boys!"

Harry **''** spluttered.

"That-that's absurd!"

"No its not."

"Well, how do you know you're maturing!" he demanded.

"That's because, because... it's a girl thing!" she yelled blushing furiously.

"That makes no sense whatsoever," deadpanned Harry **''.**

Lillian goggled at him before regaining her composure. "Don't worry, it'll make sense one day," she said with a smirk and quickly exited the kitchen.

"Girls are crazy," muttered Harry **''** , shaking his head and began looking around for some kind of snack to prey on.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 24 – Mona Lisa Part 2**

"Hi Sirius, you busy?"

"Oh, hey there, Harry junior. How can Padfoot be of service today?" he said. There was no humor in his voice just bitterness.

Harry **''** frowned. "What's wrong? Why the long face?"

"We just had a meeting and Snivellus was reminding me of how useful I am to the Order," he said angrily. "Damn git."

Harry **''** smirked. "He does have a way with words."

Sirius scowled. "I suppose you would know everything about his _way with words_ , given that you _are_ a Slytherin."

"One would think that after all these years you'd stop judging people on the basis of their houses in Hogwarts."

"I don't judge people on the basis of their Hogwarts house," he said with a scowl. "Its only people like Snape I judge on the basis of their _house._ "

Harry **''** rolled his eyes.

"What do you want anyway?" asked Sirius.

"What? I can't come and talk to my other world godfather?" he said, trying his best to look innocent.

Sirius just gave him a look.

"But you're right," said Harry''. "I wanted to know something."

"And what is that?"

"Harry, your Harry was just telling me the other day how frustrated you are at being confined to this dark and dreary house."

Sirius scowled.

"If you had a chance of getting out of the house for a while and doing something useful, would you take it?"

"Without a moment's hesitation," replied Sirius.

"Then I need your help with something," said Harry **''** "And I need you to promise that you won't tell anyone about it."

Sirius leaned forwards looking interested. "Is it legal?"

Harry **''** smirked, "What do you think?"

Sirius gave a wide smile. "Now you've got my attention. What's on your mind?"

Harry pushed himself up on the kitchen counter and made himself comfortable. "Do you know anything about my parents having an ancestral home?"

Sirius was clearly not expecting such a question and looked quite surprised.

"No," he said, after a moment's pause. "James parents and grandparents and all the other Potters, all lived in Gordic's village as far as I know."

"Did my dad ever mention anything about his vaults to you?"

"Only that it had treasures that he never dreamed it could have. But James was never really the kind of person who cared about treasures. The only treasure he cared about was Lily," he said with a wistful smile.

"Nothing else?" pressed Harry **''**.

"No," said Sirius. "But I do remember him complaining about his dad asking him to accept the responsibilities of being the head of the house and guarding its treasures or something like that, but James had said no... I had asked him once what that was all about but he was rather tight lipped about it. Must have been something about finances," he said with a shrug.

"Or maybe it was some dark secret about their family. Maybe they weren't as _light_ as people expected them to be," said Harry **''** thoughtfully.

"Light?"

"Opposite of dark," said Harry **''**. "I figured if you can call the Malfoy's and families like theirs dark. Then the Weasley's and Dumbledore and families against dark arts would be called ' _light_ '."

"That's quite the theory," said Sirius, sounding amused. "But if you're suggesting that the Potters of all people have some hidden dark secret, then I'd highly doubt it. The Potter's including your grand and great grand parents have always known to have been strongly against any form of dark magic."

"Then what would you say if I told you I found a coded map in one of the Potter vaults apparently leading to its ancestral home. The only reason I can think of a house being so well guarded was if they had something to hide."

Sirius scoffed. "A secret map? Have you considered that it could simply be a fake?"

Harry frowned. "I don't think its a fake at all. Here, see for yourself," he said and then pulled out the parchment he got from the vault and gave it to Sirius.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" said Sirius nonplussed.

"Look at the bottom left."

"The key lies in La Gioconda, one of my greatest works – LDV," read Sirius. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"In one of the Potter vaults there is a table which can show you any document you want, in regard to the Potters. So I asked it to show me a map to the Potters ancestral home and it showed me this.

I then with some help from a friend figured out LDV stand's for Leonardo Da Vinci and La Gioconda is the other name for the Mona Lisa, which _means_ that we need the Mona Lisa to make this parchment show us the location of the house. And ironically Leonardo Da Vinci was known as Leonard Potter before he was disowned by his parents."

"What's the Mona Lisa?" asked Sirius looking lost.

"It's a painting kept in a museum in France. Very famous in the muggle world and a painting which could most likely be the key to finding my ancestors home."

"All of this is very interesting but why are you telling me this?" asked Sirius taking a moment to process Harry's **''** words.

"Because I need your help to steal the Mona Lisa."

Sirius's mouth dropped open in surprise and then he began to laugh.

"You have got to be kidding me! Now I know what this is!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?"

It's a prank that's what it is! Who put you up to it? Remus?"

He went into another bout of laughter.

"Or was it the twins?"

Harry **''** didn't even crack a smile.

Sirius's laughter slowly died away on seeing the look on Harry's face.

"Oh my god... You're not... you're not actually serious?"

"Spot on," said Harry **''** acidly.

"You, you actually want to steal a painting which is in France," he said in shock.

Harry **''** nodded.

Sirius looked at Harry **''** calculatingly, weighing the pros and cons of what inter dimensional godson was suggesting.

"Do you have a plan?" he said finally.

Harry **''** smiled. "I Knew I could count on you Sirius."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Original World**

Albus Dumbledore stood in front of the wall where his students had disappeared.

He removed a letter from within his robes, a small glass container with some sand in it and a piece of Harry's **''** glasses. He placed Harry's **''** glasses and the letter next to the wall, then leveled his wand at the wall in from of him and cast the most powerful revealing charm he knew.

His suspicions were soon confirmed as a ripple passed through the wall and slowly a number of runes began to appear on the wall and after a few minutes the entire wall spanning up to ten meters was covered in ancient runes. Most of which even Dumbledore could not identify.

"I was right," he whispered in awe. He ran his hands over the runes reveling in the way the felt on his skin. The fact that he could not read them alone was a testament to the age of these runes.

He could make out the rune which meant travel and another which meant space but the rest were just obscure. They were unlike anything he had ever seen before and he had no clue as to why such runes would be inscribed on a wall next to a class room. But then again Hogwarts had many secrets and many which were yet to be discovered.

"Time to get to work," he murmured.

Taking a deep breath, he took a step back and uncorked the bottle with the sand and threw it on the wall.

Almost instantly the wall began to pulse, a blood red color which kept steadily rising by the second. He felt a breeze beginning to form around him and knew that whatever happened next would either kill him... or not kill him. Either way he'd never know unless he tried.

Dumbledore took a deep breath before raising his wand. "Scroufigy," said Dumbledore sending the spell towards the wall. If he was right then, the act of trying to vanish the time sand when they were in contact with the runes would lead to the activation of the runes using his wand as a source of power and as it turned out he _was_ right.

The moment the spell impacted the wall a tiny black vortex replaced the centre of wall and began growing in size. Dumbledore could feel his magic literally being sucked out of his body. The light breeze which he had felt earlier had now transformed into a powerful gale and seemed intent on sucking everything around it into the black vortex.

It took every ounce of Dumbledore's strength, magic and will power to prevent himself from being sucked into this black portal. He glanced at the place where he had placed the letter and the piece of Harry's **''** glasses and realized that they had already got sucked into the vortex.

The strength of the vortex kept increasing as Dumbledore's strength faded. He tried to break the connection his wand had with the wall but it wouldn't break.

Dumbledore's eyes widened and he tired to break the connection again, but it didn't work. He knew he didn't have much time left.

Thinking about his student's safety he focused all his power into his wand and with a burst of strength he forced his wand up breaking the connection it had with the runes causing the portal to suddenly close up and bring all the chaos around it to a stand still.

Dumbledore could feel his legs wobble from the effort he had put in staying firm in his place. He felt exhausted and just remaining upright was such an effort for him at the moment.

"Fawkes," he whispered and in a burst of flames his familiar appeared by his side trilling softly making his aching body relax. He then concealed the wall and held on to the phoenix's tail feathers. "Let's go Fawkes," he murmured and the mighty bird teleported away with Albus. It's pet needed rest desperately.

 **An Hour Earlier**.

Dumbledore had just finished his letter to his counterpart in the world Harry **''** had gone to.

If his theory was right, then Harry **''** and Lillian were trapped in another dimension and the only way to get them back was to open the portal through which they traveled. Which could only mean that combined with the cleaning spell Harry **''** had used and the time sand there was another factor with caused the phenomenon. And that other factor had to be something close to where Harry **''** had disappeared.

Now if he could find this other factor and open the portal, he needed to make sure he opened the portal to the correct world and to do that he'd need a link to that world. Luckily for him he had Harry's **''** glasses which thankfully had not gone with him but had left behind.

So if he used a piece of the spectacles plus the time sand and plus the unknown factor, the portal would open and theoretically he could get Harry **''** and Lillian back.

Dumbledore smiled and leaned back in his chair. He glanced at the letter again hoping he had not missed anything important and read it once again.

Once satisfied he sealed the letter and cast a spell on it which would enable only him to open it and hence the other world Dumbledore to open it.

Satisfied with his hypothesis he stood up and made his way to he charms corridor to find the unknown factor and get another step closer to bringing Harry **''** back to the world he belonged.

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Alternate World, 2 Weeks Later**

"Let's go over everything one more time," said Sirius.

"We leave at 3.00 in the afternoon," said Harry **''**. "We then take the Knight bus to the ministry which will take approximately 10 minutes. Once we reach the ministry we make our way to the international portkey department and get a portkey to the French ministry which will take us about an hour to acquire. On reaching the French ministry we make our way to the muggle world and take a cab to the Louvre museum and find where the portrait is being kept. Once we locate the portrait we find a bathroom and hide under the invisibility cloak until the museum closes and then go back, take the painting and get the hell out."

Sirius nodded. "What about the cameras?"

"We'll be under the cloak so there shouldn't be any problem," said Harry **''**.

"What about the one that will be aimed at the portrait. Don't you think the muggles will freak out if they see the painting moving on its own? And not to mention if our hands get caught on camera, the French aurors will be on to us in an instant."

"That'll be the only camera we're going to disable. By the time the muggles realize what's going on, we'll be back under the cloak along with the portrait."

"And then we can slowly slip out undetected," said Sirius.

"That's right," said Harry **''**.

"Remember, we can't use our wands," said Sirius seriously. "The French ministry is much more efficient then ours and they strictly forbid the use of any magic in muggle areas. Even a simple lumos will get them to send an entire team of aurors to arrest you."

"Rather excessive don't you think?" said Harry **''** raising an eyebrow.

"They take their security extremely seriously. Which is why in the entire history of the war against dark wizards, you'll never find a single one even mentioning a war like ours in France."

"So no magic when we enter the muggle world," said Harry **''**.

"10 points to Gryffindor."

"Slytherin," corrected Harry **''** automatically.

"Whatever," replied Sirius rolling his eyes.

"Is our back up plan ready?" asked Harry **''**.

"Yeah," replied Sirius. "I had to give Dung almost all the silverware in this house to force him to get it done."

"But it is done, right?" pressed Harry **''**. "The photos and all?"

"Don't worry they're all done."

"I want to see them."

"They're all packed!" protested Sirius. "I don't want to unpack just to satisfy you!"

"Alright, alright," grumbled Harry **''**. "I just hope we don't have to use it."

"And remember," said Sirius suddenly, "Paris is an hour ahead of London and the museum closes at 8.00 pm. So we got to make sure we reach there before six."

"What excuse do we give to the ministry for our reason to visit?"

"We'll come up with something."

"Not good enough Sirius," said Harry deadpanned.

"Oh, fine. I was thinking along the lines of you're my son and I was here looking for my wife who dumped you with me as soon as you were born and fled."

Harry's **''** eyes almost popped out.

"Trust me, it'll work. Everybody falls for the whole mushy crap," said Sirius with a grin.

"You couldn't think of anything else?" demanded Harry **''**.

"Nothing as convincing as this," replied Sirius airily.

"Idiot," mumbled Harry **''**. "Anyway, go color your hair. I'll be doing the same."

"Yes sir," mocked Sirius.

"Don't forget the contacts and the fake mustache," added Harry **''**.

"Right... Oh, and is our distraction in place?" asked Sirius.

"Yup, Harry senior knows what we're up to and is more than willing to help."

"He didn't want to come?" asked Sirius.

"He did, but I managed to convince him not to. We need someone here who can keep our disappearance secret for as long as possible."

"Does he have a plan?"

He enlisted Fred and George to create a huge distraction in the kitchen for us to escape. And the rest of the day will be filled with other pranks which will keep most of the people quite busy and by people I only mean Mrs. Weasley," said Harry **''**. "Hopefully nobody will realize that we're missing until tomorrow morning and we should be back by then." Harry **''** paused to glance at his watch. "Prank number one is due to start in exactly 90 minutes."

"Its 1.00 pm now," said Sirius.

"Let's get to work then. We have a painting to rob."

 **Two hours and a few explosions later.**

"Welcome to the France," a pleasant voice said. "Please state name and nature of visit."

Harry **''** and Sirius were still disoriented from the long portkey journey.

"Yeah, name's Samuel Smith and this is my son Peter Smith," said Sirius adopting a downcast expression which the woman didn't fail to notice.

The woman smiled back, "Nature of visit?"

Sirius's smile nervously. "Is that really necessary?" he asked warily.

"I'm sorry sir, but you have to state a nature of visit or I'm going to have to hand you over to the aurors."

"I'm sorry but it's kinda private," said Sirius, lowering his head.

"Sir?"

Sirius's eyes glistened. "It's my wife," he whispered.

"Your wife?"

A tear leaked out of his eye. "I don't want to talk about it."

Hey," said the woman putting her hand on Sirius's cheek. It's alright, you can tell me."

"She, she abandoned my son and me a year after he was born and I've spent my entire life looking for her just to know... just to know why she did it! Why did she choose to abandon me and leave us," he said as another tear leaked out. "Just to know the reason she caused so much pain to our family and break the bond of love we had!"

The woman was looking close to tears herself and Harry **''** had to refrain himself from rolling his eyes.

"What does she look like?" asked the woman gently whom Harry **''** had now identified as Amelie, by the name tag on her dress.

"She has Blonde hair, the most beautiful brown eyes and she looks like in angel from heaven," said Sirius, with a dreamy look on his face.

"That's _so_ romantic," she said with dreamy look as well. "Tell you what. I'll just write the nature of visit as tourism and you can be on your way for the security check."

"Thank you so much," said Sirius, rubbing his eyes. "Come along now Peter. We have an angel to find."

"Best of luck!" said Amelie, now dabbing her eyes with a napkin.

"You could have just said we're here to visit a friend instead of that drama you pulled back there," hissed Harry **''** once they were out of hearing range.

"Then I'd have to state name and address of friend and thanks to my drama, our brown eyed friend forgot all about it. And when she realizes it, she'll make up a name and address to keep her job."

Harry **''** was about to reply but Sirius interrupted. "We'll talk later. Now we have to see if muggle disguises are enough to fool magical detectors."

10 minutes later, Harry **''** and Sirius were on the streets of Paris congratulating themselves on the success of the first stage of their plan.

"I can't believe that girl didn't realize that you described _her_ as your _wife_!"

"She _was_ a blonde."

Harry **''** rolled his eyes.

"But mostly it was the Sirius charm that worked the magic."

"Or it was the fact that I cast a slight compulsion charm on her so that she'd believe you without any issues."

"You what?" hissed Sirius in outrage. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was!"

"I know," replied Harry **''** , "But do you think it was worth hoping for the success of your _charm?_ "

"We could have been caught!"

"But we didn't get caught and I was sure the spell wouldn't be detected in that crowd of people who happen to be Witches and Wizards, so lets move on," said Harry **''** as they entered muggle Paris.

"Wow," said Sirius, as soon as he caught sight of all the cars moving on the main road, the number of people walking around talking on their cell phones and the sheer number of buildings all around them, each having a different size and design. It was so unlike the wizarding world!

"Taxi!" shouted Harry **''** signalling to an free taxi ahead.

"What Xi?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"Sirius, just shut up and follow my lead. You're the boss in the wizard world but I'm the boss in the muggle world. So just shut up till we get to the museum."

"Yeah, yeah," said Sirius staring around in fascination.

"Where to sir?" asked the taxi driver.

"Louvre museum," said Harry **''**.

The ride to the museum was quiet except for the occasional yelling of obscenities by the driver at other drivers.

It was 4.30 when they finally reached the museum.

"Enjoy the art my friends," said the driver after counting his money. "The stuff in there is worth millions!"

"Thanks," said Harry **''** politely.

They were standing in front of 19th century style building with an archway in the centre. It was quite long and most certainly extended a long way back.

The only thing they didn't know was the sheer massiveness of the structure.

"Go on in my friends!" shouted the taxi driver. "You'll know where the entrance is once you see it! Most people consider it to be an insult to this beautiful structure!"

Harry **''** and Sirius stared at each other wondering what the driver meant as he zoomed away.

"Let's go then," said Sirius, shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"This looks like a palace," muttered Sirius, looking around as they entered a courtyard.

"Maybe because it is a palace converted into a museum," said Harry **''** , pushing through the mill of people surrounding them.

They entered through another archway and then gasped.

Ahead of them was a beautiful pyramid made entirely from glass. It was surrounded by three other smaller ones but their eyes were drawn only to the main one.

"Looks like that's what the driver meant when he said we'll know which is the entrance," said Sirius in awe.

Harry **''** just nodded unable to find words to describe what he was feeling as they moved towards the majestic entrance.

"Though kinda looks out of place doesn't it," commented Harry **''**. "A glass pyramid inside a 19th century palace."

"Still looks amazing," said Sirius.

They passed through a metal detector on their way in and through an x-ray machine to look for any other contraband they might carry.

They bought a book guide from one of the stalls.

"Wow, Sirius. Check this out," said Harry **''**.

"What?"

"This place covers over 652,300 square feet and more than 380,000 objects and has eight departments, each dedicated to a different field of art!"

"That's impressive," said Sirius, slowly, not really understanding the significance of what Harry **''** just said.

" _Impressive!_ Sirius this place is almost as big as Hogwarts and is filled only with famous works of art! Most of the items in here are worth millions!"

" _Millions!_ Now that's impressive!" Sirius said sarcastically. "Now we can drool over the history of this place later. For now we have a _job_ to do, so let's concentrate on that first... Now which way to the painting?"

Harry **''** looked at the guide map. "High Renaissance collection... This way," said Harry **''**.

"Okay, now make sure you remember this way properly," murmured Sirius. "We can't go up and down trying to memorize the way because of the cameras. We keep close to the crowds and once we find the painting, we keep moving ahead until we find a rest room and hide in there until the museum closes. The museum stops admitting people in at 5.30 and they try to get rid of everyone inside by 6.30-7.00.

So we have around 45 minutes to find the painting and then hide, got it?"

"Got it," said Harry **''**.

Once they reached the painting they marveled at its mystique for a while before moving on but not before making note of the positions of the cameras in the room.

Suddenly a voice boomed through the museum. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Louvre museum is now closing. We request everyone to please make their way to the exit. Thank you for your cooperation." The announcement was then repeated in French.

"Time to find our hide out," muttered Harry **''**.

They found a relatively crowded rest room and entered. Harry **''** slowly slipped out the invisibility cloak they had borrowed from Harry and covered Sirius and him when nobody was looking.

Stage two of the operation was complete.

Now they had to make sure nobody touched them and they didn't make a sound until the museum was empty.

It was not until 7.30 Harry **''** and Sirius were sure the museum was empty.

"Put the mask and gloves on," whispered Sirius. "I know its uncomfortable but better disguised then identified."

"We're disguised anyway," protested Harry **''**.

"Well then, lets be double disguised," said Sirius. "Aren't you forgetting that once we escape we need to leave the country safely too?"

"Okay, okay, lets go," said Harry **''** putting on the mask albeit reluctantly.

They moved quietly and swiftly under the cloak. Once or twice they saw a security guard patrolling and they had to stop until they were sure the guard was gone.

Finally they reached their destination. The painting was right in front of them. All they had to do was grab it and run.

"Sirius, we have to disable the camera first," said Harry **''**.

"How do we do that?"

"Just pull the wire out. Covering it with something will be too risky."

"Why?"

"They have ways of finding people with just a piece of cloth or a fingerprint."

"How much time do you think we'll need once the camera is out?"

"About a minute I guess," said Harry''. "Muggles are quite efficient when it comes to security."

"So lets do this then," said Sirius with a grin, but Harry'' didn't move. In fact he was frowning.

"Why the frown?"

"Did you ever think how we were going to carry such a big painting out? Some one is bound to hear us and it won't fit under the cloak," said Harry **''**.

Sirius's mouth dropped open.

"Shit," was all that left his mouth. He couldn't believe they hadn't thought of that!

"We're going to have to use magic," said Harry **''** , with a resigned look on his face.

"If we _do_ that, the aurors will be here in an instant," said Sirius.

"They'll have to meet the muggles first. Talk to them and then enter here. They can't simply apparate in here without warning."

"If that were the case then how much time do we have to get out? I'm sure they'll put up anti apparition wards the moment they get here."

"Then we're going to have to move faster than them. Its 8.20 right now. We disable the cameras, transfigure the portrait into a doll or something and then you can apparate us out to the main entrance from where we can catch a taxi to the airport."

Sirius sighed. "Looks like it's a good thing we got Dung to make passports for the two of us in our disguise."

"It's a good thing I thought of it," replied Harry **''**. "Now we have an escape route and I know for a fact that there is a flight back to London at 10.00 pm."

Sirius was silent for a moment. "Right, so we disable the cameras, transfigure the portrait and get the hell out and take the first flight out of here. Not the one to London but any flight out of Paris."

"Why any flight?"

"Because the French aurors are not stupid and they are bound to send some one to the airport to check for magical artifacts being taken out of the country."

"Then we still stand the risk of getting caught."

"Don't worry. They'll check all magical means of transport before moving on to muggle means. By then we'll be out of here."

"Why won't they send someone immediately?" asked Harry **''**.

"Because they're arrogant too," said Sirius. "Even if they do have the best aurors in the magical world, they wouldn't consider a wizard using a muggle way to escape. Only after they run out of all options they'll consider checking the airports and all."

" _Aannd_ you know this how?"

"I was an auror before being sent to Azkaban and I had a few friends who happened to be French aurors. Don't worry, we won't get caught," said Sirius.

"I don't like it, but it's better than nothing. Alright then, on the count of three.

One.. two.. three!"

 **Security Room, Louvre Museum**

Mark the security guard was excited. His girl friend was sitting in his lap with her lips attached to his and was in no mood of letting go.

"Ummm, I like you when you're in uniform," she murmured huskily, brushing her lips against his ear.

Mark inhaled sharply, "I bet you'll like me better _without_ the uniform."

"What about _me_ without clothes," she whispered seductively, playing with his tie.

Mark was so busy staring at her that he didn't see one of the screens go blank.

She began to unbutton his shirt while trailing kisses down his chest and he didn't see the third and fourth screen go blank too.

Mark put his hand behind her head and pulled her in for another searing kiss. She moaned in pleasure when his mouth moved to her chin and then to her neck.

"Lift you hands," he whispered in her ear, trailing his fingers on her stomach and slowly grabbed the hem of her shirt, ready to remove the thin fabric covering her skin.

It was then he glanced at the T.V screens and noticed that four of the screens were blank.

"What the hell?" he shouted in shock, dropping his girl friend unceremoniously on the floor.

"Mark!" she exclaimed indignantly.

He ignored her and pressed a button on the control panel and spoke into the mike.

"Security team 3, we have a code blue situation in the high renaissance section, I repeat we have a code blue situation in the high renaissance section."

"Roger that, control tower, heading to the room now," came a voice from the speaker.

Mark removed his hand from the button. "Clair, get your shirt back on and sit quietly," he said sharply.

"What's going on Mark?" she asked fearfully.

"Possible theft," he replied shortly.

 **Back to Harry'' and Sirius**

Harry **''** and Sirius had just disabled all the cameras before removing the invisibility cloak and their masks.

"Go," was all that Harry **''** said.

Sirius rushed to the portrait and lifted it out of its hinges.

That turned out to be the wrong thing to do. As soon as Sirius removed the portrait, a loud siren began to blare and steel bars began to descend from all the exits blocking all the exits.

"Transfigure it now!" shouted Sirius.

Harry **''** nodded and transfigured the portrait into a wooden doll and stuffed it into their bag. Sirius then cast a quick cleaning charm around the room and grabbed Harry's **''** arm firmly. Harry **''** suddenly felt like he were being squeezed through a tight rubber tube and then it was gone. He found himself standing near the exit.

"Sirius," he began but his other world godfather just covered his mouth, threw the cloak over them and quietly dragged him out and ran towards the other exit to the streets.

Almost immediately Harry **''** heard the telltale sound of wizards apparating where they were about 5 seconds ago. The wizards froze under the invisibility cloak as the spotted at least a dozen aurors shouting orders in French. Both felt a blanket of magic fall over them signalling the activation of the anti apparation wards.

They continued moving further away until the museum was out of sight and once they were sure that no one had followed them they removed the cloak of invisibility and headed to the main road.

"Taxi," shouted Sirius and one stopped right in front of them.

"Where to?" asked the cab driver.

"Airport," said Harry **''**.

"You'll have to hire a private cab for that sir," he replied, "I'll give you a card."

"Look," said Sirius shortly, "We're in a hurry and we really don't want to miss our flight. I'll give you half the total fare as extra."

"Extra, huh," said the driver. "The airport is quite a distance away. You sure you can afford it?"

"I can afford more than you can imagine," replied Sirius with a smirk.

"Good enough for me. Hop in."

"And go a little fast if you can. We really don't want to miss our flight," said Sirius.

"You got it boss," he said with smirk before changing gears and shooting off like a bullet.

Harry **''** and Sirius held on to their seats for their dear lives as the cab driver swerved between traffic and took short cuts where ever possible.

"You have surprisingly no luggage with you," commented the driver.

"It's at the airport already. We were just roaming around the city when we realized the time," said Sirius.

"Yeah," added Harry **''** , "The place is so beautiful that we lost track of time completely!"

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Ah, yes," he said sagely, "Paris does that to you."

Harry **''** laughed cheerfully while Sirius stared at him with surprise written all over his face.

"Will you stop staring at me like that?" Harry **''** hissed softly.

"What's with the act?" whispered Sirius.

"The muggle police will question the taxi drivers about anyone suspicious person leaving the area around the museum and we shouldn't look suspicious to this guy even if we look different."

"We aren't suspicious," said Sirius. "We got in we got out. That's it."

"We are not out until we are back under the roof of Grimmauld place," growled Harry **''** , "Now start laughing."

"What?"

"Laugh," said Harry **''** , "Loudly"

"Why?"

"Just laugh," snapped Harry **''**.

Sirius began to laugh uproariously causing Harry **''** to wince. He didn't mean Sirius had to laugh right into his ear!

"What's with the laughter?" asked the driver, now lighting up a cigarette.

"Nothing," said Harry **''** glaring at Sirius. "My dad was just reminding me of my less than memorable moments here."

"Oh, that's interesting, what happened!" he asked.

"Nothing interesting," said Harry **''** trying to discourage the driver from asking more questions. Obviously any man would insist on knowing more he thought with a smirk and this simple minded driver was no different.

"Oh, come on," he said. "It's not like I'm going to tell anyone you know!"

"Alright," said Harry **''** with a resigned sigh. "It all started with this girl when we were visiting the Eiffel tower," he began.

The chatting continued and Sirius soon caught up with Harry's **''** plan and began making up more ridiculous stories each more embarrassing than the other.

After what seemed like hours of torture for Harry **''** , the taxi finally stopped in a crowded airport terminus.

"Bloody hell," whispered Sirius, after the driver had left. "This place is freaking crowded."

"Welcome to a muggle international airport Sirius," said Harry **''** with a grin.

Sirius just nodded dumbly.

"What now?" he asked.

"Now, we follow the directions, look for the first flight we get out of this city and then head back home."

The pair stopped in front of a flight schedule.

"The earliest is in 45 minutes to Rio de Janeiro," said Sirius. "45 minutes is a long time."

"45 minutes is no time at all if what uncle Vernon said about airport security was true."

Sirius frowned when Harry **''** mentioned his uncle.

"Oh and Sirius."

"What?"

"You'll have to do all the talking. You're the adult."

"Me! But I know nothing about all this!"

"Don't worry. Just show them our passports when they ask for it and then pay them the amount they ask for."

Sirius looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Relax Sirius, I have no doubt you'll manage perfectly," said Harry **''**.

"You so sure?"

"Yeah, because if you don't... we're screwed."

"Right," said Sirius taking a deep breath and checked the flight schedule once more. "Rio De Janeiro, terminal 7, lets go."

They stood in line waiting to be scanned by the security guards when Harry **''** noticed something unusual.

"Sirius," he whispered.

"What?"

"Look at the guy in the black suit."

"What about him?"

"Look at his pants."

Sirius looked carefully. "They're too small for him," he said in surprise.

"And his socks are not matching... like he wore them in a hurry and to top it all off, he has a thin metal wire in his hand which looks like a magical detector to me."

Sirius's eyes widened in panic. "Shit, Harry **''** , they found us! We got to run!"

"Dammit Sirius just calm down," he said, as he noticed a few people looking at his fake dad curiously.

"How can I calm down?"

"They haven't found us yet! It's been over two hours since we left the museum and I'm sure they must have made the muggle connection. Just let me handle this and we'll be fine."

"You'll handle it! How are you going to handle it without magic?" hissed Sirius.

"Trust me," whispered Harry **''** , not elaborating.

Sirius to Harry's **''** surprise acted perfectly. Must be because of his pranking tendencies, he thought with a smirk. And maybe because of his auror training too he added as an after thought.

10 minutes later they were three more people in front of them before the wizard scanned them. He was sure that instrument would detect their wands and the transfigured portrait.

Slowly taking a deep breath he cautiously raised a finger and willed the wizards shoe laces to untie.

There were two more people in front.

Harry **''** held his breath.

One more person.

Sirius moved ahead.

Harry **''** raised his hand subtly and moved the man's left leg on to his right shoe lace and then made him try and move his right leg to the right.

Everything happened just as Harry **''** planned it.

The man went crashing into the table beside him, hitting his head viciously against its corner.

There were shrieks from the women around and a few guards rushed to the man's aid.

By the time the wizard recovered from his fall, Harry **''** and Sirius had already placed their bag on the conveyor belt and avoided the wizards scan.

Harry'' allowed a smile to grace his lips as he saw the wizard stand on his feet shakily looking like he had just been slammed in the head by a bulldozer. The auror felt there was something amiss and his fall was not natural at all but he passed it off as part of the massive headache he was feeling at the moment.

Things went pretty much smoothly after they left Paris. It was an 11 hour flight to Rio De Janeiro and another 12 hours to London, not to mention the three hours they had to wait in the Brazilian airport waiting for the heavens to clear. Harry **''** was confident that there was no way the wizards or muggles would be able to find them and identify them.

The only thing left to worry about was the reception they were going to get when they went back to the headquarters if anybody had discovered their disappearance. It would be sometime in the afternoon when they reached the headquarters and Harry **''** had no doubt the news of the stolen portrait would have reached every household around the world.

What to do next, pondered Harry **''** as the pilot announced their arrival at the London international airport.

Little did he know that back in his own world, a dark lord with unimaginable powers and a will to rule to world had been resurrected.


	27. Interlude

**Interlude**

The portal to travel between dimensions is indeed a mysterious thing. There are a very limited few in the world who believe in the existence of alternate dimensions and fewer still who have an inkling of a possible theory as to how to open a portal and only **one** with the true knowledge and ability to open the portal and guards said knowledge fiercely.

It was said by those who built the portal that traveling through it will take you to any parallel world and but not to the time you intend it to take you to.

You could leave one world in the year 1990 and end up in another world in the year 1889 or 2089 or any random year. It's just the way the portal works and has no explanation as to why it works that way.

It is said that as soon as one enters the portal he or she immediately appears in another dimension but that is not true.

When a being enters the portal, its body is disintegrated into un-countable number of particles which drift through the dimension between worlds until the entrance to another is found.

It could be years, it could be minutes or even decades but you will never know as your conscious ceases to exist once you enter the portal. You are simply another particle in space.

Your conscious mind may not exist but your subconscious does. And the moment it finds an exit, the body reforms and comes out as if no time has passed.

Even if multiple beings enter the portal at the same time, there is no guarantee that they will end up in the same dimension. It is only pure luck if they do end up together.

But traveling between worlds is very dangerous because it upsets the balance of energy in the both worlds as a soul is lost in one and gained in another. Depending on the power the soul holds the balance of power in the worlds shifts too.

Though it is strange... for when the person travels back to his own world, he shall arrive at the exact same time at which he left. He shall not have aged even a second regardless of the time spent in the other world and shall remain the same as they were when they left.

That it why it is most curious as to why Harry James Potter and Lillian Mary Austin were not back in their own world and why they still seemed to be in another world.

.

.

.

Unless they were already back and didn't want to be found...?


	28. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 – Realization**

Harry was cursing his counterpart and Sirius for the umpteenth time today.

They had told him they would be back before midnight and it was now 7.00 AM in the morning! Harry didn't think he could keep their disappearance a secret any longer since almost everyone knew that Harry **''** was always the first one to be down for breakfast and Sirius always made a big deal about Mrs. Weasley's cooking everyday.

There was no way anyone would fail to notice their absence. They might ignore it during breakfast but not lunch!

He hoped for their sakes they would make it back soon and also prayed nothing went wrong with their trip. He had wanted to accompany them at the start but the idea was shot down immediately. Mainly because the people in the house might disregard Sirius's and Harry's **''** disappearance for a little while but not his, as he was too important to go missing for even a few hours.

Even inside the house people kept checking on him every hour or so and it annoyed him to no end. Honestly, what could possibly happen to him in a house under the fidelius charm and filled with order members to boot.

Harry sighed loudly hoping there wasn't any order meeting today and nobody would bother about the two missing people.

"Hey Harry, have you seen the other Harry **''** around?" came a sleepy voice from behind him.

Harry groaned. Looks like the gods were not on his side today.

Lillian pulled a chair beside him and sat down rather grumpily.

"What's up with you?" asked Harry, a little amused.

"Nothing," she said accompanied by a huge yawn, "It's just Ginny and Hermione."

"What about them?'

"They've been up almost all night arguing about god knows what. Your name seemed to come up a lot followed by a lot of giggling."

Harry's heart leapt into his throat, "My name!"

"Yeah," she grumbled. "Don't know about what though, all I know is that they cost me my beauty sleep."

Harry grinned, "Well you certainly do look like a beauty now."

Lillian raised her head and blinked owlishly.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Pig," she muttered finally and let her head crash into the table.

Harry snorted. "If you're so sleepy why don't you just go back to bed?"

"Need to talk to Harry'' about something," she mumbled.

"I'm right here."

"Not you, the other one."

"Oh, right," he said awkwardly. "What is it that you want to talk to him about anyway?"

"Stuff," she said vaguely.

"What stuff?"

"General stuff."

"What general stuff?"

Lillian pushed herself up and narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

"Whoa, don't need to get all defensive... I was just curious."

Lillian sighed. "Sorry," she said, "I'm just having a bad day that's all."

"The day has barely begun," pointed out Harry.

"And it's steadily going to get worse," she replied snidely.

Lillian felt the bubbling of her element deep inside her as her anger rose and quickly calmed herself before anything went wrong. She had almost torched Hermione and Ginny for talking loudly last night but she had managed to crush the feeling ruthlessly.

"Look I really need to talk to Harry **''** , have you seen him?"

"No I haven't," said Harry. "He must be in his room."

"He's not in his room and he's always early for breakfast," she said frowning.

"Oh yeah," said Harry suddenly, "I did see him down here and I think he went back up to have a shower. He wasn't feeling too good."

"Oh no, I hope its not happening to him too," she said under her breath but Harry heard it.

"What's not happening to him? Is something wrong Lillian?"

"Nothing, nothing," she said quickly, a little too quickly. "Where on earth is Mrs. Weasley? I'm starving!"

"Lillian wait!" said Harry as she slid out of the chair and hurried to the kitchen.

"What the hell is she hiding that would make her so nervous?" wondered Harry.

All his thoughts were put to a stop when Mrs. Weasley came in floating a huge tray of delicious bacon, eggs and bread. The kind of food that would make ones mouth water instantaneously.

"Harry dear," she said cheerfully putting down the trays. "Where is Ron and the rest of the kids?"

"Still sleeping," said Harry with a grin.

"Really now," she huffed and then took a deep breath.

Harry and Lillian quickly covered their ears.

"BREAKFAST IS READY! AND WILL BE GONE IN 15 MINUTES!" she screamed.

There were thuds heard from above, a little yelling and scrambling.

Two minutes later the entire Weasley family present in the house was sitting around the table gulping down all the food like there was no tomorrow.

It was a little funny truth to be told.

"Where's the other Harry **''** dear," asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, he wasn't feeling too well, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry. "Hopefully he'll be down for lunch."

"Oh, dear, maybe I should go and check on him."

"NO," shouted Harry.

Everyone stared at him.

"I mean, you know how he is," he added hastily. "He'll probably just insult you."

"Arrogant shithead," muttered Ron, stuffing a piece of bacon into his mouth.

"Watch your tongue young man," reprimanded Mrs. Weasley.

Ron mumbled an apology not meaning it at all.

Harry was thanking the gods that no one noticed Sirius's absence. He honestly didn't know what excuse to come up with for his godfather.

10 minutes later not a crumb was left on the table and Mrs. Weasley gave a contended sigh. She really was proud of her cooking.

Just before Harry left following Ron back to their room, Mrs. Weasley called Lillian and him back.

"Harry dear, if you see Sirius, please inform him there is an order meeting at 11.00 today."

Harry felt like smashing his head on the wall.

"And Mary, Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you before the meeting."

"About what?" she asked, frowning.

"I think it was about your accidental magic a few days back."

Lillian paled and Harry noticed it.

"Why does he want to talk to me about that?" she asked nervously.

"I don't know dear. I'm sure you'll find out when he gets here. Now run along there's a lot of work to do today."

"Yes Mrs. Weasley," they said and hurried out of her range. Both of them were not eager to do any work she gave them. Usually it ended it a lot of pain and bug bites.

Lillian practically ran up the stairs before Harry could even stop her.

Shaking his head he made his way back to his current room hoping nothing _bad_ had happened to Sirius and Harry''.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry'' and Sirius meanwhile were enjoying their trip back from Brazil.

Sirius kept ogling at the beautiful air hostesses and Harry **''** was eating ham sandwiches and chocolates non stop and taking an occasional sip from Sirius's drink.

"I shouldn't be allowing you to drink that you know," said Sirius lightly.

"I've never been one to listen to anyone else other than myself," replied Harry **''**.

"I can see that," said Sirius. "And your inability to hold your liquor is showing too. A thirteen year old isn't supposed to be drinking."

"Relaxx Ssirius. I'm just tasting it and it'ss not like I'm gulping it down am I?"

"You've been tasting for the past 20 minutes and you're speaking with a slight slur to your voice now."

"Am not!" protested Harry **''** feebly.

Sirius merely raised an eyebrow.

Harry **''** raised his eyebrows too.

Sirius raised them higher.

Harry **''** pulled his upwards with his hands.

"You loose," he said with a smirk.

"I wasn't aware it was a competition."

"That's why you lost," said Harry **''**.

Sirius just rolled his eyes.

A women walked past and Harry **''** eyes followed her.

"Did you see her boobies!" he said with a gasp.

"Harry!" hissed Sirius, glancing apologetically at the people staring.

"But they were huge!"

"If you continue talking so loudly that woman is going to shove your head into the toilet."

"But Sirius, they were popping out of her shirt," he said and cupped his hands to his chest and made a weird action.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Her breasts falling out of her shirt," said Harry **''**.

There a few outraged gasps by the women around.

"Teach your son a few manners mister," said the lady across them.

"You got nice boobies too lady," said Harry **''** cheekily.

The lady blushed and looked away.

"Okay, Harry. It's time for you to sleep," said Sirius. "It's my job to flirt with hot women not yours!"

"I'm not flirting! I'm just complimenting them."

"Go. To. Sleep!"

"Maybe I should show them a few magic tricks too," Harry **''** said thoughtfully.

"Damn it Harry **''** , close your eyes!" he hissed.

Harry **''** obediently closed his eyes. And just as Sirius had hoped, he passed out a couple of minutes later.

Sirius turned to the lady across them and gave her a charming smile.

"Sorry about that. The kid was a little high on sugar." And a little alcohol he added mentally.

"No problem," she said with a smile.

"You really have a wonderful smile you know," he said with a wink.

The lady giggled and the rest of the flight passed by too quickly for Sirius's liking.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Welcome my friends," said Dumbledore to the recently arrived members.

"Why did you call a meeting today Albus?" growled Moody. "As far as I know there haven't been any complications in our duties."

"A painting was stolen from the muggle world."

"And this concerns us how exactly?" asked Remus.

"This painting is of a witch whose identity I do not know, but apparently it holds the key to some sort of treasure," he said. "At least that's what I have found out in short notice," he added.

"And you're worried You Know Who might have something to do with this," said another member.

"This treasure could be anything. It could be gold or knowledge or even some other way for him to gain more power."

"Or it could just be a muggle who stole the painting seeing that the painting _is_ very valuable in the muggle world," said Kingsley in his deep voice.

"Is there any proof that it was You Know Who?"

"None, however I do want you to find out everything you know about this painting. On the other hand how is your team performing Alastor?"

"Good," said Moody, "We've managed to take out Morgan and replaced his brother with a polyjuiced agent of ours."

"That's good news indeed," said Dumbledore as some of the members whistled in appreciation and congratulated Moody. "Has he found the blueprints?"

"Not yet, but he is close."

Dumbledore nodded approvingly.

Suddenly he noticed the absence of Sirius.

"Molly, do you know where Sirius is?"

"No, Albus. I haven't seen him all day."

"Could you please bring him down, I want him to be here for my next announcement. He'll probably be in Buckbeck's room."

Molly nodded and left the room.

But she returned 10 minutes later without Sirius.

"I can't find him anywhere Albus!"

Dumbledore frowned. "Did you check the library?"

"I checked everywhere. Even the kids haven't seen him all day!"

Dumbledore glanced around the room looking at the members questioningly. "Have any of you had contact with him?"

Almost all them shook their heads in negative.

Dumbledore's eyebrows knitted in worry. "Alright then, gentlemen, ladies today's meeting is adjourned. Kingsley, please stay behind."

Everyone slowly emptied the room. Few left by floo and most through the front door.

Once all the order members where gone he asked Mrs. Weasley to bring everyone to the living room.

As soon as everyone was down he cast a spell which caused a whopping sensation in everyone's stomach.

"He's not in the house," said Dumbledore gravely.

"He wouldn't have left the house, would he have Albus?" asked Mrs. Weasley sounding equally worried.

"I hope not."

"Harry's **''** not here too!" said Lillian suddenly.

"Beg pardon?"

"Harry **''**! The other Harry **''**! He's not here too!" she exclaimed.

"Oh dear," muttered Dumbledore. "I hope they haven't gone out somewhere without permission."

"Ask Harry, your Harry," she said accusingly, "Apparently he was the last person to see them!"

"Hey!" said Harry. "Just because I was the last person to see him doesn't mean I know what they were up to."

"Ah-ha! So you knew they were up to something!" said Lillian triumphantly.

"Wait, now just hold on one sec," said Harry indignantly, "Why no one is supporting me here!"

"Harry," interrupted Dumbledore calmly, "Do you know anything about Sirius and Harry'' whereabouts?"

"Of course not!" Damn right I do, he added in his mind. "I wouldn't let Sirius just leave the house without any protection!"

He wasn't lying in a way. Sirius did have protection in the form of Harry **''**.

Dumbledore sighed, "Good, because last night a very famous muggle painting was stolen from the Louvre museum and I pray to god Sirius and Harry **''** weren't remotely involved in the theft."

Hermione gasped loudly.

"Is something wrong Ms. Granger?"

"Harry **''** was asking me about the Mona Lisa last week," she said covering her mouth.

"That is indeed the name of the stolen painting," said Dumbledore with a frown. "Harry, are you sure you don't know where Sirius is?" he asked again, this time a little urgently.

"No sir, I don't. And I don't think they had anything to do with this because I saw Harry **''** this morning."

"I see," Dumbledore said quietly.

There was silence for a moment before it was shattered by the headmaster.

"Everybody, back to what you are supposed to be doing," he said suddenly with a note of authority in his voice. "Kingsley, I need you to check the transportation department and check all the list of all the registered portkey's going out of the country.

I want the rest of you to wait here and inform me as soon as those two get back. Harry please stay back."

"Yes sir," they said dutifully and slowly shuffled out of the room.

Once everyone was gone Dumbledore turned to Harry.

"May I speak with you for a moment Harry?" he asked politely.

"Of course professor, you did ask me to stay back after all," said Harry with forced sweetness, when all he wanted to do was scream obscenities at the headmaster for keeping secrets about his own life from him.

"Now Harry, are you absolutely sure you know nothing about Sirius and your younger self's whereabouts?"

Harry was getting angry now. "I think I heard them talking about some vaults _sir_ ," said Harry, stressing on the word sir. "Something about family vaults and things like that you know. Or wait, that's what the other Harry **''** was telling me about."

Harry's voice was steadily increasing and Dumbledore just looked at Harry serenely.

"Harry," said Dumbledore, trying to interrupt Harry's rant but Harry ignored it.

"What I'd like to know is why did you choose to keep me from entering my own vaults, why are you so adamant on me staying in Privet drive every summer when you know I hate it there, why do you not let me stay here with Sirius and why have you been avoiding me every time you enter this house!" Harry took a deep breath. "Why professor!"

Dumbledore looked at Harry with sadness etched deep in his eyes.

"I did not feel it right to tell you about your vaults so soon and I wanted to tell you about them as a gift of sorts when you turned 17. I know there are a lot of things I have done wrong when it comes to you Harry but I honestly just want the best for you."

Harry looked down to the floor feeling guilty.

"I understand your anger and pain Harry," said Dumbledore gently, "But please understand that everything I am doing is to protect you."

"Yet the Dementors attacked me at Privet Drive," Harry couldn't help but add.

Dumbledore suddenly frowned. "Those were not rogue Dementors Harry," he said gravely.

"What do you mean?"

"They were still under the control of the ministry."

Harry stared at Dumbledore stunned. "Are you saying the ministry ordered the Dementors to attack me!"

"Not the ministry Harry, both of us know that Voldemort has spies in the ministry and there are certain elements within the ministry who would love nothing more than to see your wand snapped."

"Fudge," said Harry dully.

"Amongst others," said Dumbledore. "While you are safe from deatheaters, Voldemort and other dark creatures at Privet drive, I cannot stop the ministry from doing anything stupid. And if the ministry falls then Voldemort will most certainly have the power to break through the fidelius charm if he puts enough effort. That is why you are safest at Privet drive."

"Then how come the Dementors were able to attack me?"

"You were outside the wards," he said. "That is why I had an order member stand guard at your house every day. I knew I could not force you to stay close to the house everyday so every time you strayed outside the wards, an order member was there to protect you. Unfortunately Mundungus had to choose that particular day to make a sale."

Harry chuckled and Dumbledore smiled.

"I'm sorry sir, but if you had just told me this before, none of this would have happened."

"Another one of an old mans mistakes," said Dumbledore with a laugh.

"Sir," began Harry hesitantly.

"Yes my boy?"

"You're not keeping any more secrets from me are you?"

"Would you believe me if I said no," he asked, his eyes twinkling.

"I would if you'd say so," he said seriously.

Dumbledore sighed.

"There is always a time and place for everything Harry. You must learn to be patient and things will be revealed to you when the time is right."

Harry nodded.

"Now run along Harry, I'm sure you have much to discuss with your friends."

"Yes sir," he said with a sheepish smile and hurried up the stairs to talk to Ron and Hermione.

The smile on Dumbledore's face lingered as Harry vanished. "Take care my dear boy," he whispered before heading to the fireplace and flooed back to the castle.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was two in the afternoon when cab pulled up in front of number 15 Grimmauld place and a blond man and a boy got out.

They paid they cabbie and walked tiredly to the spot between number 11 and 13 before completely disappearing.

"My head is pounding Sirius," grumbled Harry **''**.

"That's what happens when a thirteen year old consumes alcohol."

"It's not like you stopped me or anything!"

"That's true," said Sirius with a chuckle. "I wanted to see how you'd behave with a little alcohol in your system and I wasn't disappointed."

"Don't remind me," groaned Harry **''**. "What was I thinking?"

"The look on that air hostess's face when you hit her butt was Priceless!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was so glad when she didn't say anything. For an instant I thought she was going to slap me," said Harry **''**.

"I thought she was going to spank you."

"Whatever, now just open the damn door. God only knows what kind of reception we're going to receive."

"What about our disguise?"

"Just remove the contacts and turn your hair back to its original color. The blonde color will disappear after a good head wash."

Once that was done the duo quietly opened the door and tip toed towards the staircase hoping not to be seen.

Luck wasn't on their side for once.

"Oh my god, I found them!" shrieked Hermione.

The curtains covering the portrait of Mrs. Black ripped open and her screams and obscene language filled the hall way.

Wincing Sirius rushed towards the portrait and forced the moth eaten curtains shut causing a welcomed silence to fall in the Black house.

"Where have you been!" hissed Hermione, beckoning them towards the dining hall.

Harry **''** smiled coldly, "Wouldn't you like to know," he said with a sneer worthy of Professor Snape.

"Play nice Harry **''** ," muttered Sirius quietly.

Hermione just huffed and walked out calling for Mrs. Weasley and the others.

Harry **''** sighed. "Can I stun her Sirius?"

"That wouldn't be a good idea. And no matter how much you dislike her, I don't thing it would be in your best interests to make more people mad at you right now."

"Like I care about that," he said with a snort. "And look! Here comes the cavalry," he added with a smirk as Mrs. Weasley came running down the stairs followed by everyone else in the house.

"WHERE IN MERLINS NAME HAVE YOU BEEN SIRIUS BLACK!" she screamed as loud as her voice would permit.

"Merlin, did she put steroids in her vocal cords!" muttered Harry **''**.

Sirius suppressed his laughter.

"Calm down Molly. Harry **''** and I just had to visit Gringotts."

"Gringotts! Why in heavens name would you want to visit Gringotts! Harry **''** doesn't even have a vault in this world. And even if you wanted to visit the order would have planned a trip at the appropriate time! Do you know how IRRESPONSIBLE it was on your part!

Mrs. Weasley was breathing heavily and all the children behind her had moved as far back as possible to avoid her wrath just in case she turned towards them.

And don't worry Harry **''** , I know you had nothing to do with this. I'm sure this man must have dragged you along just for his own amusement," she said nastily.

"Err, Mrs. Weasley?" said Harry **''** suddenly, suppressing his urge to choke the life out of her.

"Yes dear," she said, her demeanor changing from intimidating to loving in a matter of seconds.

"Are you Sirius's mother?"

She looked confused. "Pardon?"

"Are you or are you not Sirius's mother?" he repeated slowly as if explaining to a dumb child.

"Of course not!"

"Then what gives you the right to dictate where he goes and what he does?"

Mrs. Weasley stared at Harry **''** doltishly, her face red in anger and confusion.

Harry **''** just smiled serenely with a dangerous look in his eye.

She pulled herself together and put her hands on her hips.

"That is not the point. He should not be putting you and himself in harms way! What would have happened if you both were seen! How do you think the public would have reacted if they saw an escaped convict walking in Diagon Alley along with a much younger Harry Potter!"

"Do you really think we would be dumb enough to go into Diagon Alley without a disguise Molly?" asked Sirius sarcastically.

She seemed to be swelling as her anger grew.

"I'm calling the headmaster," snapped finally. "He'll deal with the two of you."

"Ohhh," said Harry **''** , pretending to shiver in fear.

She just shot him a nasty glare and left the room. Sirius followed her out so that he could intercept Dumbledore when he arrived and save Harry **''** the trouble of making explanations to the headmaster.

Harry **''** decided to have a snack but stopped short when he found all the Weasley boys standing in front of him with their wands out.

"Is this supposed to be a blockade or something?" he asked. Not intimidated in the slightest.

"Shut it Potter," snarled Ron. "It's time you learned not to talk so rudely to our mother!"

Harry **''** just rolled his eyes. "And you're going to do what exactly?"

He saw Harry move towards Ron to calm him down and Hermione and Ginny went to the twins. Lillian was just watching the proceedings quietly and Harry **''** could tell from the look in her eye that she wanted nothing more than to pound him to bits.

"Cool it Ron," Harry said gently, "Lets just go back upstairs."

"Yeah, go back upstairs _Weasley._ You wouldn't stand a chance if you tried to pick a fight with me."

Ron broke free from Harry's hold on him and lunged towards Harry **''**.

"Ron don't!" shouted Harry, remembering the time he had tried to attack his counterpart.

But it was too late, Ron was barely an inch away from Harry **''** when he was viciously blasted back and went crashing into the twins.

"Ron!" shrieked Hermione and Ginny.

Ron groaned and slowly pushed himself up.

"Ron, are you alright!"

Ron nodded and stood up shakily.

Suddenly his cheeks blew out and he covered his mouth, his eyes wide in terror.

"What's the matter Ron!"

And then for the second time in his life Ronald Weasley began to puke slugs.

Harry **''** just smirked and quietly slipped into the kitchen. All that talking had made him even hungrier then he was before.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry sighed in defeat. "Why did Ron have to be so temperamental?" he thought. Now he'd have to wait even longer to find out what about Sirius and his counterparts trip to Paris.

He knew what was going to happen now. Mrs. Weasley was going to come and scream bloody murder when she saw Ron. Dumbledore would then arrive and remove the hex. The headmaster would then proceed to question Sirius and Harry **''** who would lie spectacularly and then he'd finally get his chance to talk to the two alone.

Total chaos in other words.

Shaking his head ruefully, he patted Ron on the back who was now puking slugs with renewed vigor.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was close to midnight when Harry, Harry **''** and Sirius finally managed to meet each other alone.

Presently they were sitting in the Black library with the painting unfolded in front of them along with the map Harry'' had.

"What do we do now?" whispered Harry.

"No clue," said Harry **''** with a shrug. "What do you think Sirius?"

Sirius frowned.

"Place the map in the centre of the portrait."

Harry **''** did. "Now what?"

"I don't know," said Sirius, "But it may need some sort of catalyst or something, something which will make sure that a Potter is the one who is accessing the map."

"Blood?" suggested Harry.

"Maybe," said Sirius. "Why don't you give it a try Harry **''**."

Harry **''** nodded and conjured a small knife and placed his thumb over the map before pricking his thumb lightly and letting the drops of his blood fall on the parchment.

Slowly the blood was soaked up by the parchment and then all the dots and lines began to wiggle and move like worms all around the parchment. Ink from the portrait and the parchment began to leak and they started mixing with each. The sequence of dots and lines kept changing and the parchment kept getting darker and darker and suddenly it just stopped.

"What," began Harry but shut his mouth when all the ink began to ooze out of the map. It slowly rose above the parchment swirling furiously forming no recognizable shape when out of the blue there was a flash of silver light and a small rectangular silver stone fell onto the parchment with a thump.

All three occupants of the library were silent after that particular event _._

Sirius was the one who broke the silence. "That was unexpected."

Harry **''** gently picked up the stone and looked at it closely from all angles.

"Look!" Harry said suddenly, pointing to the parchment.

A word was now written on the parchment.

"Dom..," Harry **''** began but was quickly cut of by Sirius.

"No Harry **''** , don't say it!"

"Why not?"

"It could be a password to activate a portkey. And if I'm right that stone is a portkey to your ancestral home. Now unless you want to go there right now, which I think is a bad idea. Just let go of the stone."

Harry **''** put down the stone.

"What does _Domus_ mean?" asked Harry.

"It's Latin for home," said Sirius.

"Straight forward password," said Harry **''**. "Anyway, I should keep this with me," he said, picking the stone again. "Wouldn't want to loose it."

"Why can't we use it?" asked Harry. "I don't know about you guys, but I'd really like to visit my ancestral home."

"You can't use this stone, because it's from my world and if it's a one time use portkey then I'd like to use it in my world," said Harry **''**. "The portrait seems to be unchanged so I'm sure if you got your copy of the map out of the vault, I'm sure you'd get your portkey."

"What about returning the portrait? I thought the plan was to return it once we were done with it."

"This portrait rightfully belongs to the Potters so you don't need to worry about it. But if you're so concerned..."

Harry **''** took out his wand and said _Geminio,_ pointing his wand at the portrait. Instantly there was an exact copy on the table.

"Call Hedwig or preferably some common barn owl and ask it to drop this at the entrance of the Louvre without being seen. The muggles won't even know the difference."

That said Harry **''** walked out of the library and back to his room with a satisfied smile on his face. "Looks the trip across dimensions turned out to be beneficial after all," he thought.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 ** _Morning Daily_**

 ** _Mona Lisa Returned!_**

 _In bizarre turn of events, the Mona Lisa which was stolen from the famed Louvre Museum in Paris was found rolled up at the entrance of the museum and was found by a security guard._

 _There was no comment from the museum after the Da Vinci master piece was found, but it was reported by a source that experts were currently trying to determine if the portrait found is indeed the original Mona Lisa or a fake._

 _For history of the Mona Lisa... turn to page 3_

 _For history of Leonardo Da Vinci... turn to page 3_

 _For history of the Louvre Museum... turn to page 4_

"Can you believe this!" said Hermione.

"Believe what Mione?" asked Ron, trying to stuff two toasts into his mouth at the same time.

Hermione just shot him a disgusted look and turned away from him.

"What do you think Harry?"

"Maybe one of the employees was playing a prank on the museum authorities or it's just a ploy by the museum to get more attention."

"Nobody would be stupid enough to play such a prank on the museum Harry," she said rolling her eyes. "And they don't need to go to such extents to bring people to the museum, they're well known enough as it is."

"Maybe they were losing customers and they wanted people to remember the beauty of art or something," he said with a shrug.

Hermione bit her lip.

"Just drop it Hermione. You don't need to solve everything."

Ron snorted causing a few pieces of half eaten bread crumbs to fall out of his mouth again.

"Stop stuffing your mouth like that Ronald!" said Hermione sharply, "It's disgusting."

"Sorry," he mumbled, the tips of his ears turning red.

Hermione turned back to Harry, "Have you seen Sirius and _Harry_ _ **''**_ yet? Mrs. Weasley asked me to keep an eye on them." She said Harry's **''** name with as much scorn as possible.

"Harry **''** had breakfast before we even came down and I guess Sirius is still asleep."

"I really don't understand him," Hermione burst out. "I don't understand why he is so rude and looks down upon everyone he meets. You and him are the same but yet so different!"

Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, but he could understand Hermione's dilemma.

"He may be the same as me physically but there are a lot of differences in our upbringing," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," said Harry with a sigh. He knew they wouldn't understand life living with the Dursley's. Harry remembered a conversation they had about the Dursley's and he was horrified at how the Dursley's had treated his younger self. Sure the Dursley's insulted, mocked and treated him like servant but never had they hurt him physically.

He had then realized why Harry **''** was so cold, rude and uncaring all the time. It was all because of the way the Dursley's had treated him. Discovering magic for him was like discovering a new life, a way to survive.

He shook his head trying to get rid of all those dark thoughts.

"Stop trying to compare the both of us Hermione. We are two completely different individuals," he said tiredly. "Anyway, I'm going upstairs... Coming Ron?"

Ron nodded and followed Harry out leaving Hermione at the table.

Hermione was quiet, her mind racing with thoughts trying to find a logical answer to what Harry had said.

The answer was quite simple and straight forward but she wanted to know why. What made them so different, where the always different or was it a particular event that made them different.

She really didn't know why, but she had made it her personal mission to figure out what exactly made them so different. Sure Harry had said it was their upbringing which was different but different in what way? She knew the Dursley's didn't like magic and were very rude to Harry and she was pretty sure it was the same for the other Harry **''**.

It then struck her that Harry never spoke much about his childhood, his friends at primary school and all such things. All Harry kept saying was that the Dursley's didn't like him and didn't care about him.

Obviously be kept saying that because he didn't like them. Harry could be so childish at times, she thought.

"Well, now I know what to do," she said aloud with determination. She was going to find out more about both the Harry's childhood to find her answer.

She knew neither would be forthcoming but it was the only she could find out what she wanted to know.

She never even considered the thought that Harry never spoke about his childhood with good reason and it would cause him unnecessary pain.

Little did she know that in her quest to find her answers she might just create a rift between her and her best friend.

.

.

An irreparable rift.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Headmasters office, Hogwarts**

Albus Dumbledore idly read the letter he had received a year back, thinking what to do about it.

When he had first found the letter in the middle of Harry's fourth year, laying in the charms corridor addressed to him he was really confused. And what confused him further was that it was in his handwriting!

And when he read the contents of the letter his mind just froze to a halt.

"Ridiculous," was the first word out of him mouth. But then he couldn't deny the facts.

There was a letter addressed to him in the charms corridor whose wall apparently had runes which made traveling through dimensions possible and two students from another dimension had ended up in this world.

Upon conformation he knew that the letter was indeed in handwriting and had charms which would enable only him to open and read it.

But there was one inconsistency.

There were no students who had appeared from the wall, let alone a different Harry Potter and someone called Lillian Mary Austin.

That was one year ago.

Apparently the portal worked in mysterious ways.

Today he was reading the letter once more and wondering if it would be a good thing to send them back to their own world.

He knew they were powerful and after Lillian's little fire show, he knew she was a fire elemental.

How beneficial their powers would be to the war. Having two Harry Potters fight Voldemort would be much better than one. Two boys who were capable of defeating Voldemort according to the prophecy would be much better than just one, he thought.

But those were yesterday's thoughts. Today he realized the dangers of keep them in this world. Harry **''** had snuck out of the house for a reason not known to him and if they were seen the results would have been disastrous.

His Harry now knew about the Potter vaults thanks to his counterpart. Harry could now find knowledge in those vaults which he certainly didn't want Harry to have access to. Especially if the rumors about the vaults were true then he definitely didn't want Harry having access to them.

He rubbed his forehead feeling the headache come. It was time to send the dimension travelers back to where they belonged before they ruined more of his well laid plans.

He should have known better and not tried to meddle with fate. His plans had failed spectacularly and Harry could easily slip out of his control if he spent more time around his younger self who was clearly extremely independent and wouldn't stand anybody trying to interfere in his life.

"He's my counterpart's headache," he muttered, "Not mine. Better get rid of him before he causes anymore trouble."

And with that Albus Dumbledore retired to his room. Tomorrow he would be sending Harry **''** and Lillian back to their world.


	29. Chapter 27

**Chapter – 27 – Return**

 **Today, 11 Pm**

Albus Dumbledore was on his night time stroll in the castle when he felt the wards he had placed on the wall in charms corridor alert him of some magical activity taking place.

His face lit up in happiness and he hurried towards the corridor which was only a few minutes away.

"God dammit Freckles! Do you always have to fall on me!" he heard a voice he hadn't heard for more than a month say.

"That's why I told you to let me go through first!" said the other voice he hadn't heard for more than a month.

"And have me land on top of you! You'd be squashed."

"Oh please, I'm taller and healthier than you so you're the one who should be feeling squashed."

"You're taller than me! Which world are you living in Freckles? If you're heavier than me, it will be because of your large arse."

"My arse is perfectly normal you dolt!" she said angrily.

"Not from my angle."

"Than stop staring at it you pervert."

Dumbledore choose than moment to intervene. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Austin. How nice to have you back within these walls," he said, his eyes twinkling brightly.

Harry and Lillian immediately stopped their argument and looked at the headmaster.

"It's like I can actually see the twinkle in your eyes in this darkness," said Harry in awe.

"Why thank you Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore happily. "I'm just glad to have my two missing students back."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Two Weeks Ago,** **Original World**

Sirius Black was sitting in the headmaster's office quietly drinking the tea offered to him by the headmaster.

None had said a single word yet and Sirius was feeling very nervous.

"Please explain to me why I shouldn't hand you over to the Dementors?"

Sirius winced.

"I'm innocent," muttered Sirius. "I didn't do anything that I was accused for."

There was pin drop silence in the office as Dumbledore kept his unblinking gaze fixed on Sirius. "As far as I remember, you were the Potters secret keeper."

"We changed it to Peter," he said with a snarl. "We thought it would be perfect because nobody would even suspect Peter of being the secret keeper. We thought it'd be the perfect bluff. But that bloody rat turned out to be a spy for Voldemort! It was he who betrayed us all, not me!"

"Do you have any proof?"

Sirius pulled out a dirty paper from his pocket and gave it to Dumbledore.

"This is a picture of the Weasley's."

Sirius nodded. "Look at the rat on the boys shoulder, the one next to the girl."

"Scabbers?"

"Look at its toes. One is missing. Its in the same place Peter lost his finger when I apparently blew him to pieces."

"Are you telling me that Ronald Weasley's rat, is an animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew!"

"Yes. All of us, meaning me, James and Peter became animagus in our fifth year. We did it to accompany Remus when he transformed during full moon."

Dumbledore looked amazed. "All of you became animagus in your fifth year in Hogwarts. That's incredible!"

Sirius grinned. "And I'd recognize Peter's animagus form anywhere and that is Peter Pettigrew on that Weasley's shoulder."

There was a knock on the door.

Sirius immediately transformed and hid in the corner of the room.

"Come in."

Severus Snape walked into the room.

"Severus!" said Dumbledore in surprise, and subtly sent a sleeping charm at Sirius. He didn't want any trouble right now. "Where have you been?"

"How long has it been since I have gone?" he said vaguely.

"4 days," replied Dumbledore. "What happened?"

"The potion is ready," he said. "The dark lord is ready to use it tonight."

"Whom is he going to use?" Dumbledore asked grimly.

"Bartemius Crouch."

"Crouch! Why Crouch?"

"Crouch is one of the most powerful wizards in the ministry and his loss will be a severe blow to the ministry, but that's not all."

Snape took a deep breath.

"Peter Pettigrew is alive and he is with Voldemort."

"He is with Voldemort!" asked Dumbledore sharply.

"You don't seem surprised to hear he is alive."

"I captured Sirius Black while he was trying to sneak in and got the truth out of him."

"You captured Black!" said Snape in shock. "Where is he!"

"He is safe for now."

Snape looked like he wanted to protest but he managed to fight down the impulse. "Pettigrew was the one who found the dark lord first and had been helping the dark lord grow stronger until Lucius decided to go looking for him. But forget that. Last night, Lucius and Pettigrew went to Crouch's house to bring him to the dark lord."

"Did they succeed?"

"I'm coming to that!" said Snape irritably. "They managed to subdue Crouch when the found something they didn't expect to find in their wildest dreams."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"The found Barty Crouch Jr. under an invisibility cloak who was under the influence of the imperius curse."

Dumbledore was shocked.

"It seems that Crouch's wife somehow convinced him to help her son escape from Azkaban. They used Polyjuice to exchange places and she was the one who died in Azkaban, not their son."

"This is bad news," muttered Dumbledore gravely.

"Yes it is," said Snape. "Now the dark lord has one of his insane loyal supporter at his side who will do anything and everything for his lord."

"How come nobody has noticed Crouch's disappearance?"

"Lucius has taken his place under Polyjuice for now," said Snape with a sigh. "The only reason I was able to come back to Hogwarts was because the potion was ready and I told the dark lord I didn't want you to get suspicious of my prolonged absence."

"So Voldemort will be resurrected tonight," said Dumbledore.

"That's right."

Dumbledore sighed. "You should go back Severus. I don't want Voldemort getting suspicious of you."

"What will _you_ be doing?"

"We always knew this day would come and we shall act accordingly. A summon shall be issued for the Order of the Phoenix to gather once more. And then we do our best to get the ministry on our side before Voldemort sinks his fangs into them _and_ somehow try to convince the minister to question Sirius under veritaserum and call off the man hunt for him."

Snape just sneered and headed for the door.

"Good luck Severus," said Dumbledore. Snape just gave the headmaster a short nod and left the room.

Dumbledore then waved his wand at the big dog sleeping in the corner that woke up with a start.

"You can transform now, he's gone."

Sirius transformed back. "What happened? One minute I saw…" Sirius's eyes widened. "I saw Snape!" he yelled. "What was that slimy git doing here!"

"Professor Snape is the Potions master at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"W-what! Snape? Teaching at Hogwarts? But he's a death eater!"

"Things have changed since you imprisonment in Azkaban Sirius. Snape was never a death eater. He was a spy for me in Voldemort's ranks."

"Snape, a spy? Impossible!" declared Sirius.

"Enough about Severus, Sirius. I have a question for you."

"What?"

"Why did you not come to me when you escaped from Azkaban? I could have helped you."

Sirius laughed bitterly, his expression turning sour and angry. "Why didn't I come to you, you ask me. Tell me Professor, did you even believe for an instant that I was innocent? That there could be a perfectly explainable reason for my apparent betrayal? Did you even try to talk to me or help me get a trial to find out the truth?"

Dumbledore hung his head. "What could I have done? We always knew that someone who was close to the Potters was a spy and when Voldemort found them at Godric's Hollow and you were caught trying to kill Pettigrew, I honestly thought you were the spy."

"You lost faith in me so easily?"

"You were a Black. I thought you had defected to Voldemort because of your family," said Dumbledore sadly. "Now I realize how flawed my reasoning was."

"And this is exactly why I didn't come to you. The only reason I am here is because my godson hasn't contacted me in days and I was scared Pettigrew might have done something to him."

"Harry! Why would Harry contact you? Unless…"

Dumbledore inhaled sharply. "He has been living with you during the summer."

"That's right. And do you want to know why?" said Sirius, anger radiating from him.

"Why?"

"Because I found him in the playground near his house practically bleeding to death!"

Sirius was shouting now.

"I found him there, looking as pale as ghost with a gunshot wound to his shoulder! If wasn't there he would have died there! And do you know who shot him?"

Dumbledore was too afraid to say it.

"His aunt," hissed Sirius. "Those muggles tried to _kill_ the son of Lily and James. _My godson!_ "

Dumbledore couldn't stand. He collapsed into his chair. Harry had told him about the way his relatives treated him but he didn't listen. He thought Harry was safe at the Dursley's but it turns out he was never safe there… His relatives had tried to _kill_ him, he thought with a shudder.

"I'm so sorry, Sirius," he whispered.

"You should be apologizing to him, not to me. Where is he anyway?"

Dumbledore winced. "There was an accident Sirius."

Sirius felt his heart stop.

"He's not hurt physically Sirius."

"What happened to my godson? WHERE IS HE!" yelled Sirius.

"Sirius calm down. Harry is fine!"

"You just said he was involved in an accident," accused Sirius.

"A long story made short, there was an accident in the charms corridor involving Harry and a time turner."

"A time turner!"

"Yes, and I think it resulted in him traveling to a different dimension."

Sirius looked at Dumbledore in shock and then the expression changed to concern. "Are you alright headmaster? Did something happen to your brains?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "I assure you I am fine. Harry, hopefully will be back soon. I figured out a way to bring him back and I am hundred percent sure it will work."

"But Dumbledore, dimension traveling… it's just science fiction. There has to another explanation."

"It was science fiction, Sirius. But let us discuss your situation."

"We are going to discuss my godson first. I want to see him."

"Sirius, I told you. It's impossible right now. Harry is in another world. But don't worry!" he said quickly when Sirius looked ready to erupt in anger. "He will be back soon, that I am sure of."

"But, but Dumbledore, you're talking about traveling between dimensions here!"

"I am aware of that," said Dumbledore. "I know it is unbelievable but it is true."

"When did this happen?"

"It's been three weeks."

"Three weeks! Merlin, hasn't anyone in the school realized that he is missing?"

"Of course, but they think they were involved in an unfortunate forced apparition incident resulting in them getting splinched and are now in a secret ward under the care of Madam Pomfrey."

Sirius closed his eyes in an effort to control his anger.

"What makes you so sure that he is safe even if he is in a different world? Assuming your theory is true. He could be in a world where everyone they know is evil and will not hesitate to kill him. He could be in a world where everyone is dead and he is the only one alive. He could-" Sirius's voice shook with emotion. "He could be in a world where Voldemort has won which would put him in great danger."

Dumbledore looked troubled. "I did consider the possibility that they could be in a world much different from our own but there's nothing I can do about it. So I'd rather think they weren't in a world where they are unwelcome and liable to be killed any second."

"You keep saying they, who is they?" asked Sirius.

"My apologies," said Dumbledore with a smile. "Harry wasn't alone when the incident took place. He was with another girl, a Gryffindor by the name Lillian Austin."

Sirius's eyes widened. "He's with Freckles! Why didn't you say so before," he said relaxing a bit.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Harry has told you about her?"

"Of course. She is his mortal nemesis who will not stop at anything to annoy and irritate him and he too will stop at nothing when it comes to irritating and annoying her," he said with a smirk.

"And why does that put your heart at rest?"

"Because he has someone with him to keep him company and bring them _closer._ Of course and Harry is a very resourceful kid. If he can survive at the Dursley's, he can survive anywhere."

Dumbledore winced. He knew the last sentence was a jab at him.

"You were saying something about my situation earlier?"

"Ah, yes. I'm afraid Peter Pettigrew is no longer at Hogwarts."

"WHAT!"

"He has gone back to Voldemort."

Sirius spluttered. "Voldemort? But didn't Harry defeat him? I don't understand Albus."

Dumbledore sighed. "You have been out of contact with the world for too long Sirius. Voldemort was never killed when the killing curse back fired on him. It merely robbed him the pleasure of having a physical form. His spirit lived on waiting for one of his loyal servants to come and help him regain a corporeal form."

"And Pettigrew was the one who returned," whispered Sirius.

"Yes, it happened soon after Harry and Lillian disappeared. Soon after Lucius Malfoy set out to find his master and now they are helping him rise back to power."

Sirius looked appalled. "Then what are you doing here! Why aren't you doing anything to stop this from happening!"

"There's nothing I can do Sirius. I cannot force my way into Malfoy manor and stop the ritual Voldemort is going to perform."

"Why not!" demanded Sirius. "You certainly have the power to take on Malfoy and any number of death eaters and I am sure a spirit Voldemort can do no harm to you. All you have to do is convince the Aurors to accompany you to his house with a warrant."

Dumbledore sighed. "Even if we did manage to stop this ritual, Voldemort would still be alive. There is no way to kill him unless he has a physical body."

Sirius looked confused before his eyes grew in horror. "You're letting him come back!" he accused.

Dumbledore bowed his head. "Voldemort will come back on way or the other if not today."

"But, but-"

"Don't you think it would be better to get rid of Voldemort once and for all rather than delaying his return and having the fear of him coming back and killing everyone we know?"

"But, Dumbledore! We can't just let him come back to power!"

"I know that. That is why I am going to schedule a meeting with the minister in half an hour. I'll make sure he'll be coming here with Kingsley Shacklebolt who is going to interrogate you under veritaserum with the minister as witness. I will be personally issuing a summon for all the members of the Order and we will actively begin to prevent Voldemort from regaining his old allies."

Sirius stared at Dumbledore. "Interrogate me?" he asked in a high pitched tone.

Dumbledore smiled. "Fudge does not know I have you in custody. Kingsley shall bring the veritaserum under my request and when Fudge gets here I will reveal you to them and _convince_ Fudge to have you interrogated.

You will have a proper trial once we question you under veritaserum and you will be a free man."

Sirius's eyes filled with hope. "Do you think Fudge will listen?"

"He better, if he knows what's good for him," said Dumbledore, but didn't elaborate seeing Sirius's questioning look. "But there's something else I'd like to know."

"What is it?"

"How long did it take for you to become an animagus? When did you start and how did the wards not detect an animagus on the grounds?"

Sirius frowned. "You have wards to detect animagus?"

"The castle is very well protected."

"Does it detect animagus crossing the wards or does it detect an animagus transforming inside the castle?"

Dumbledore blinked. "You never crossed the wards transformed," he said with dawning realization.

"We'd always transform in the shrieking shack," said Sirius. "I don't think there was ever a time, we chose to transform in the castle and be detected. We always knew you were aware of practically everything that goes on in the castle."

Dumbledore smiled. "I don't always know what's going on in the castle. It is a big place and one has only two eyes."

"Lots more than that considering the portraits report to you if they detect something wrong," said Sirius with a grin.

"When did you figure that out?"

"In our second year. It was Remus who figured it out. He realized that whenever we got caught there was a portrait around. So we always avoided the portraits while executing pranks."

"You three were always very bright," said Dumbledore with a chuckle.

Sirius suddenly jumped.

"What's wrong?" asked Dumbledore.

"If you have wards that can detect a transformed animagus then how come you never detected Peter crossing them in his rat form?" demanded Sirius.

Dumbledore frowned. "Now that you mention it, the wards never alerted me when he entered Hogwarts. Maybe Voldemort had taught him a few tricks about crossing animagus wards undetected," he said. "Perhaps I should modify the wards so that they detect an animagus entering in any form."

"You do that," said Sirius darkly, thinking about the ways he would kill Peter when he found him or better yet, he could feed him to McGonagall in her cat form but he doubted she would go along with it.

"Where have you been living Sirius?"

"Grimmauld Place," said Sirius. "I don't think anyone would have expected me to go to the house I hate the most."

"Remus suspected you might," said Dumbledore. "He even tried to enter the house once but he was unable to."

"You didn't suspect I might hide there?"

"I didn't. But on Remus's request I tried and with great difficulty managed to gain entrance but you were not there at that time. I had to leave when a house elf started attacking me and a portrait started screaming obscenities at me."

Sirius grinned, "That was my mother."

"I gathered as much," said Dumbledore.

Silence fell between the two men and Dumbledore began to pen a letter to the minister and one to Shacklebolt. Once that was done, he closed and called for his familiar. Fawkes immediately flamed to his pets side.

"This one for the minister and this discreetly to Kingsley," said Dumbledore softly. Fawkes trilled softly sending waves of comfort into the two men before flaming away.

"How long will it take for them to arrive?" asked Sirius nervously.

"Fudge will want to get here as soon as possible if he buys what I wrote," said Dumbledore with a chuckle. "Would you like something to eat Sirius?"

Sirius nodded. "I'm starving."

"Tinky," called out Dumbledore and a house elf wearing a pillow case with the Hogwarts crest popped in.

"You called Master Dumbledore?"

"Could you please bring a plate of ham sandwiches for this gentleman here?"

The house elf nodded vigorously and immediately popped out of the room eager to do its job.

About half an hour later a tiger patronus glided into the room passing through the door like it wasn't there and Minerva McGonagall's voice came from its mouth. "Fudge on his way up with an Auror."

"Looks like you interrogators have arrived," said Dumbledore with a grim smile.

"Where should I hide?" asked Sirius.

Dumbledore waved his wand and a door appeared beside the entrance to his office. "Hide in there and do not under any circumstances touch anything," said Dumbledore sternly.

"You got it Dumbbells," said Sirius and hurried into the room.

He was just in time as someone tried to open the entrance to the headmaster's office.

"Come in Cornelius."

The minister of magic entered the room with Auror Shacklebolt behind him.

"Ah, Dumbledore. How nice to see you," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Cornelius, thank you for seeing me," said Dumbledore politely.

"I'm a busy man Dumbledore. I do not take kindly to summons from you on such short notice."

"My apologies minister. But I need to speak with you regarding a most important matter."

"You caught Sirius Black!" shouted Fudge.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," said Fudge hastily. "That's all that has been on my mind lately. Quite a mess this Black affair has turned out to be."

"Then it will make you happy to know that I have indeed captured Sirius Black on the Hogwarts grounds."

"Where is he!" cried Fudge in joy. "We'll have the dementor's kiss administered immediately."

Even Kingsley looked interested now.

Dumbledore frowned. "That is the matter I wish to talk to you about. Sirius Black will not be given the kiss."

The smile on Fudge's face faded. "What are you talking about Dumbledore? What do you mean Black won't get the kiss!"

"I want you to give the man a trial before you make any decision about the kiss."

"Preposterous! Giving a guilty man and one who has escaped from Azkaban a trial would be political suicide!"

"Minister," said Dumbledore coldly. "Do you think I would make this suggestion unless there was some reason behind it?"

"Are you suggesting that Black is innocent?"

"I'm glad you catch on quick Minister."

Fudge stared at Dumbledore, his mouth open. Kingsley was still just looking merely interested and nothing more.

"Now see here Dumbledore. We can't just grant Black a trial. If you don't hand him over now I'm going to have you arrested on the charge of withholding vital information and protecting a fugitive," said Fudge angrily.

"I am well aware of the charges you can stack up against me minister. But all I am asking you is to have Black interrogated right here, right now under the influence of the truth potion."

Fudge spluttered, muttering incoherent words.

"I believe I do have a vial of veritaserum on me minister," said Kingsley, choosing that moment to interrupt.

"Thank you Kingsley," said Dumbledore with a smile. "I don't believe there should be any problems now minister."

Fudge glared at the tall black Auror but conceded.

"Alright fine," he snapped. "Where is he Dumbledore? I want this over with and Black carted back to Azkaban."

Dumbledore didn't comment but waved his wand once more and Sirius tumbled out from behind the door he was trying to listen through.

"Kingsley! Secure him!" shouted the minister. But Dumbledore had already conjured a comfortable chair and bound Sirius in it.

"Hey, you don't need to tie me in," protested Sirius.

"Shut up Black," spat Fudge, turning his hat furiously. "Administer the truth potion Auror," he barked.

Dumbledore was pleased to see Fudge was doing things formally. He removed a parchment and a Wizengamot approved court quill from his drawer.

The quill immediately began writing whatever was being said in the room.

"This is the informal interrogation of Sirius Orion Black. The interrogation committee consists of Head of Wizengamot - Albus Wulfric Brian Percival Dumbledore, Minister Cornelius Fudge and Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt," said Dumbledore quietly.

Kingsley dropped three drops of the liquid on Sirius's tongue who was looking extremely nervous. Almost instantly Sirius felt the effects of the potion kick in and his mind went blank.

"What is your name prisoner," asked Fudge.

"Sirius Orion Black," he said in a monotonous tone.

"Minister," interrupted Dumbledore.

"What?"

"Do you mind if I ask the accused the required questions as I am the Supreme Mugwump."

Fudge's eyes narrowed in anger but he nodded stiffly, knowing he could say anything unwanted. After all, the court quill copied every single word spoken.

"When did you break out of prison Mr. Black?"

"It was a few days after the visit from the minister of magic."

"Why did you break out of prison?"

"To kill Peter Pettigrew and to protect Harry Potter."

This time even Kingsley was shocked.

"Pettigrew!" cried the minister. "You killed Pettigrew along with a dozen muggles thirteen years ago!"

Sirius did not answer as it was not a question.

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew Mr. Black?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"No I did not," was the flat reply.

If it possible, Fudge's mouth dropped lower than it already was. Kingsley's mouth had dropped open too and that was saying something for the normally calm man.

"Please explain the events that happened on the day you attacked Peter Pettigrew, Mr. Black."

"I found Peter Pettigrew near the south entrance of Knockturn alley in Muggle London. Peter saw me and realized I was there to kill him. But before I could do anything he yelled out that I had betrayed Lily and James and proceeded to cast a confrigo spell with his wand behind his back. Twelve muggles were killed and he cut of his finger to make it look like I was the one guilty of casting the spell."

"Why did attempt to kill Mr. Pettigrew," asked Dumbledore quietly.

"Because he betrayed Lily and James to Lord Voldemort."

"In what way did he betray them?"

"He was their secret keeper. He was a death eater and he informed Lord Voldemort of their location."

"Are you saying you were not their secret keeper?"

"No I was not."

"But you told everybody including myself that you were the secret keeper."

"It was a bluff to throw Lord Voldemort off track."

The veritaserum was wearing off by now.

"I don't believe there are anymore questions to be asked," said Dumbledore grimly, glancing at the minister who was staring at Sirius in shock and horror.

Shock, because of the enormous political impact his confession would make and horror, because of the amount the man had gone through knowing that he was innocent.

Fudge might be a politician, an over ambitious person. But he was also human.

"Do you have any questions Minister?" asked Dumbledore, bring the minister out of his thoughts.

"No, no I do not. Sirius Orion Black, after intensive interrogation under the influence of the truth potion, I declare you innocent of the charges that placed you in Azkaban and stop the manhunt for you with effect immediately. Headmaster Dumbledore, please deactivate the quill."

Dumbledore obliged, beaming with happiness.

"Auror Shacklebolt, please take this document to the Department of Magical Law enforcement and recall all personals involved in the man hunt for Sirius Black," he said handing over the quill and the parchment to the tall Auror.

"What about the dementor's minister?"

"They will go as well. Ask Diggory to meet me in my office in an hour. I will hand over the required documents to him there."

"And shouldn't we be taking Black back to the ministry with us?" asked Kingsley.

Fudge seemed to be struggling to answer that question.

"That will be unnecessary," he said finally. "I'm sure Dumbledore will take good care of him and the healer at Hogwarts can examine him and submit a report to the ministry."

"It will be done Minister," said Dumbledore.

"Very well, Sirius Black, you are now a free man," said the Minister and stood up. "You are likely to be summoned to the ministry in a day or two Mr. Black for a statement and a press release. Good day Dumbledore," he said and left the room quickly beckoning Kingsley to follow him.

Dumbledore sighed happily and turned to Sirius who could not comprehend what had just happened.

"I'm free," he kept muttering. "I'm a free man."

.

.

.

"And where the hell is my godson!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Two Week Ago, Malfoy Manor**

At the stroke of midnight Bartemius Crouch Sr. entered the ritual circle prepared by Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape and his son Bartemius Crouch Jr.

Crouch Sr. was not aware that his soul was being sacrificed to help the dark lord come back to power. He was not aware that he was being possessed by the dark lord himself. He was not aware of the numerous runes carved into his body. He was not aware of the ritual circle that was drawn from his blood. He was not aware of the fact that the dark lord had complete control over his body.

He was not aware of anything.

"Bring the potion Wormtail," came the powerful voice of Crouch Sr.

Wormtail shuddered and quickly gave the potion to the dark lord and hurried out of the circle making sure not to disturb anything. He knew if he so much as tripped or slipped, his life would be forfeit in a matter of micro milli seconds.

Lord Voldemort looked at the black potion curiously and then gave a single command.

"Begin."

The ritual circle was a simple one. It was a circle with three additional circles at equal distances to each other which were all connected to another circle in the center of the bigger circle. Lucius, Severus and Barty Jr. were kneeling in the outer three circles with their respective wands held with both their hands. Lord Voldemort stood in the center possessing Crouch Sr. who was naked. The nudity was necessary asrunes had been carved into every part of his body!

The lines joining the center circle with the other three smaller circles was also filled with different runes. Only the main big circle had no runes drawn on it.

All the three men touched the tip of their wands to the rune which signified loyalty and began chanting together. They were chanting a spell which in simple terms was meant to restore a lost soul to his body by giving another soul as payment.

Peter Pettigrew shivered with fear as he saw the ritual begin.

The rune signifying loyalty began to glow green and start to shimmer. Slowly as the men continued to chant, one by the one each of the runes began to glow and the dark room was bathed in an eerie green glow.

Suddenly the runes stopped glowing and at that moment Voldemort swallowed the potion.

There was no sound for three seconds and then the men started chanting again and the blood runes began to glow red. Not just a normal red. Red mixed with black giving it a sickening look.

The runes on Crouch Seniors body began to move. They started snaking towards the ground slowly, connecting with the runes on the ground and began to glow more brightly.

Then Crouch began to scream. But it was no longer his voice. It was his and Voldemort's combined. The Blood runes all seemed to rush towards Crouch's body and slid into his mouth making him scream even louder.

The men did not stop chanting and in fact they started chanting louder and faster as they too began to feel the strain of the runes pulling their magic.

Crouch collapsed and every bone in his body could be seen breaking. It started with his legs, then moved to his hip, then to his spine and ribs, then his arms and shoulder and even his cheek bones broke with an audible crack.

The hair on his body began to vanish as his skin color began to pale. The hair on his head began to grow longer and his eyes grew narrower.

All this time he still hadn't stopped screaming and the men hadn't stopped chanting.

Peter had peed in his pants.

Soon Crouch's voice had vanished and it was replaced by Voldemort's and Voldemort's alone.

Bartemius Crouch was no longer lying whimpering on the floor. It was Lord Voldemort, who had stopped whimpering and shakily got to his feet.

The men had finally stopped chanting.

Nobody dared to say a word as Voldemort stared into the dark.

"I feel different," said Voldemort to no one in particular. "I feel... Powerful," he said with a smile growling on his black lips. "Robe me Wormtail."

Wormtail who was staring at his Lord's ridiculously small penis hurried forward with a plain black robe.

Lord Voldemort was indeed feeling powerful. After lying in a weakened state for so long, anyone would feel powerful after regaining their body, but it was different for him. He could feel a powerful strength growing in him, just waiting for him to command it.

He looked almost the same as he had before he was defeated twelve years ago except for a few minor changes. His hair was longer and hung loosely around his face, completely covering his ears. His cheek bones were higher making his cheeks look hollow. He was even paler than before, so pale that one might confuse him with a vampire. His eyes were narrower and were completely black. They were not red, like they were before. It looked like Bartemius Crouch Sr. had left a few parts of his physical body behind.

Lord Voldemort looked the perfect part of a terrifying villain born straight out of a persons worst nightmares.

"Welcome back My Lord," said Lucius, edging forward slowly to kiss the hem of his master's robes. Snape and Crouch Jr. followed.

Voldemort let them without a single word and waited for them to go back to their previous positions.

"Where is my wand?" he asked. His voice was deeper and had a somewhat hypnotic ring to it.

Lucius strode forward and withdrew a wand from his robes. Voldemort took and Lucius bowed and moved back.

Voldemort could feel the rush of power on making contact with his wand. It was intoxicating.

"Come forward Barty."

Barty Crouch knelt in front of Voldemort.

"What command do you have for me my Lord?" he asked giddy with excitement.

Lord Voldemort smiled cruelly.

"Show me your left arm," was all he said, signaling the start of the darkest war to befall upon the wizarding world.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Yesterday**

Until Last week all that the headlines of the Daily Prophet screamed about was the innocence of Sirius Black and the incompetence of the Ministry of Magic. There were demonstrations in Diagon Alley and cries for changes to be made in the functioning of the Ministry.

Then came the news of the disappearance of Bartemius Crouch from his home after Black was declared innocent. After Voldemort had been resurrected he didn't feel it to be important to continue to have Crouch impersonated. Most people thought he was the man hiding until Gringotts declared him dead and sealed his vaults.

Nobody knew Goblins could tell if a person was alive or not. This combined with the recent suspicious behavior by the Goblins lead to the feeling that the Goblins were planning a revolt and the ministry began making stricter laws for Goblin wizard interaction.

Amidst the storm if events occurring in the wizarding world, thirteen highly dangerous wizards and witch had then broken out of the impenetrable fortress of Azkaban and people began to start dying of fear in the muggle world which had the muggle authorities baffled.

When Albus Dumbledore stated that Lord Voldemort was the one responsible for the escape of the death eaters, he was promptly fired from his position as Supreme Mugwump and all the other positions he held except his position as headmaster of Hogwarts.

But then when more people started dying including many heroes of the last war, Albus Dumbledore was reinstated within a day back to his old positions and the minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge was promptly kicked out of office for negligence of the security of the nation and Madam Bones was elected as the minister of magic by the Wizengamot much to the displeasure of Voldemort.

All this happened in less than 24 hours.

The first action Madam Bones took was to remove the dementors from Azkaban and put them in a secure location but when wizards arrived at the prison, they found all the human guards had been kissed and the dementors had vanished along with every prisoner in the prison.

This was going to be tomorrow's headlines.


	30. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28 – Through The Portal**

Harry **''** was bored.

He was lying on his bed playing with the portkey from the Mona Lisa. The portkey which most probably lead to the Potter's ancestral home... probably.

Sighing he got up and started walking around him room. He had been extremely restless since Dumbledore had floo called them and asked Lillian and him to be ready within an hour.

That had been four hours ago.

He could not come up with any reason that might indicate the reason behind the headmasters delay was beginning to get extremely annoyed with the old man.

There no doubt that the only reason Dumbledore would ask them to pack was if he had found a way to send them home. Harry **''** thought about the time he had spent in this world and couldn't help but think it was all just a bad dream.

Getting stranded in an alternate reality, meeting a wimpy version of yourself, staying with the people you don't get along with, seeing yourself become what you'd never expect to become.

"Very bizarre," muttered Harry''. "But then, so is magic."

But it wasn't all that bad, he thought. He had managed to get what he would have never ever obtained in his world. A portkey from a painting that had long been destroyed in his world.

Harry **''** couldn't help but feel this was part of his destiny. Maybe he was meant to come to this world. Maybe he was meant to get the portkey and find his ancestral home, where he might find something which will define his path yet again.

The way he saw it, life was just a path from one point to another. In between were innumerable twists and turns which lead to the final point and it was his job to navigate through all the possible routes to the end and survive. Entering this reality was just another route to the end.

.

.

.

.

"Or maybe all that is just plain and simple bullshit. Just like the afterlife is bullshit and destiny is bullshit."

He paused and held his hands behind his back and began to pace around his room again.

"Or maybe not. Maybe everyone has a fixed destiny and all that is _not_ bullshit. Afterlife cannot be bullshit because of the presence of ghosts."

He stopped and let his arms fall limp.

"I have got to stop _thinking_ about this!" he exclaimed.

He had a habit of agreeing and contradicting himself at the same time and then finally coming to a conclusion which he would contradict again and begin the process all over again. That is how he spent most of his time in Hogwarts. Most of his housemates simply think he is wasting time sitting idle when actually his mind is filled with ideas which are constantly being contradicted and modified until a solution is reached where there was no contradiction possible.

Harry **''** would sometimes force himself to stop thinking the way he did because it would only give him a headache a few hours later. Even while talking to someone he would constantly think about what he was going to say and keep contradicting it until he found an answer he could not contradict and it would barely take him a few seconds.

Out of all the people that knew Harry **''** , Blaise Zabini, his roommate could say that he knew Harry **''** the best. He knew about his elemental ability, his habits when he woke up in the morning, the things that irritate him, his ability to spot things that could not be spotted at first glance, the ease with which he performs spells thought to be difficult even to the students three years ahead of them. But whatever Blaise knew was only what Harry showed him.

Even he does not know Harry **''** truly. He does not know what makes Harry **''** truly happy or what are the things that would make him interested or if there were any girls he was interested in. Things like that. Like how Harry **''** finds ancient runes the most interesting subject of all. Hogwarts only covers a fraction of what ancient runes was all about. But with the books he had found in the Potter vault, he had learnt about the art of creating spells, why each movement was so important in a spell, how each moment could change the spell.

He found practicing and learning new spells easy. But to understand the working of each spell was what captured his attention the most.

It was things like these that interested Harry **''**. Things that demand a lot of thinking, things that require complex thinking, things that could not be achieved by a common witch or wizard.

This is what Harry **''** unconsciously wanted the most. To achieve things that normal people could not. To strive to be recognized for his own achievements and not for something he could not even remember clearly.

And it was this very nature of his that made the sorting hat place him in Slytherin and made Dumbledore extremely wary of him, for the last person who use to think like that ended up to become the darkest wizard in the history of the wizarding world.

But Harry **''** Potter also had the elder wand, the wand of destiny and nobody but Harry **''** knew what the purpose of the wand holder was. Nobody truly knew what the wand was.

Those who knew about only saw it was a weapon with which one could never be defeated in a duel. But they didn't know it would be unbeatable only if it accepts someone who had the potential to become stronger than its previous true master.

And the purpose of the person who would become the master of the wand was to destroy the creature called evil.

This person was Harry **''** Potter who had accepted this responsibility at the tender age of eleven.

This is why he would not become what Dumbledore feared he could become. Simply because Harry **''** firmly thought his purpose was to defeat evil. Not become the very thing he had to destroy.

If someone asked him why would be accept such a responsibility. It was because the wand had given him a purpose when he didn't know what to do with his life. When at the Dursley's his purpose was to survive, but after coming to Hogwarts there was no purpose except the one to do well in school and have friends. Harry **''** felt out of place among the students at Hogwarts although he never showed it and then the wand had given him a purpose again and Harry had accepted it... even though it frightened him.

Dumbledore did not know it, but Harry **''** was already the person he wanted him to become. The more Dumbledore tried to interfere in Harry's **''** life, the more he distanced himself from said boy.

In a cruel way, leaving Harry **''** with the Dursley's was the right decision to make. For if he had not, Harry **''** would have never learnt to reach his magical core and access it in ways no wizard had ever managed before. He would not think the way he does now and would have never obtained the allegiance of the elder wand.

Dumbledore's original idea was to leave Harry **''** with people who would not pamper him and spoil him. He did not realize they would hate, hit and isolate him. It was these very things that made Harry **''** what he is today.

If Dumbledore's plan had worked the way he wanted it to, Harry **''** would simply be another wizard in an ocean of wizards. He would never be the genius he is now and would be mediocre at best.

This is what Harry **''** was. He was hungry for knowledge, wasn't afraid of speaking his mind when required, was cautious when necessary, intelligent, powerful and still growing. He had learnt how to hide and control his emotions well. He knew how to survive and considered no one his superior. He took orders from no one and made his own rules. He always wanted there to be a purpose to life and he would do everything to achieve it.

A knock on the door, brought Harry **''** out of his internal debate regarding destiny and fate.

"Who is it?" he asked in an irritable voice.

It was Harry senior.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"No."

Harry rolled his eyes and entered anyway, shutting the door behind him.

"I thought I said no?"

"Dumbledore floo called," said Harry.

Harry **''** raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Get your stuff down. Dumbledore said he was coming in half an hour."

"He said he would be here in an hour about four and a half hours ago, so I think I'll wait here until he arrives."

"And Mrs. Weasley has prepared an early dinner since the two of you are leaving tonight."

"I suppose all the redheads are down there too," said Harry **''** with a grimace.

"Of course," said Harry. "You might not have interacted with anyone but Lillian sure got to know almost everyone here."

"Freckles is an idiot."

Harry chuckled. "She's friendly. Maybe you should try it, it's not very hard."

"Ha-ha, very funny," said Harry **''** deadpanned.

"I'm serious," said Harry, "You just have to smile once in a while and not snap and insult anyone who talks to you."

"You're not serious, that's your godfather."

Harry gasped. "Was that a joke! Are you feeling okay?" he asked in mock concern.

Harry **''** sighed. "Are you going to leave or do I have to throw you out?"

Grinning Harry opened the door and was about to leave but he stopped and turned back looking a little nervous.

Harry **''** frowned. "What's with the look?"

"Err... Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else."

"Something other than jokes?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the scar."

"The scar? Why?"

"Has... has it ever hurt?"

"Has it hurt? Why?"

"Has it?"

Harry **''** frowned in thought. "Just once. In my first year when I looked at Voldemort's spirit."

"It has never hurt since you arrived here? Or at any other time in your third year?"

"No, why are you asking me this anyway?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Every since Voldemort has returned my scar has this constant throb of pain in it. It's like a minor headache just in one spot," he said.

Harry **''** was quiet.

"At first I thought it was a normal headache but sometimes I can hear his voice in my sleep. Initially I discarded it as a dream but it keeps coming back at night and I know its not a dream."

"Are you saying you're having visions?"

"No, not visions. I can just hear his voice. But then when I woke up yesterday, I knew I spell I had never heard of before. I looked it up in the Black Library and turns out it's a dark spell."

"What was it?" asked Harry'' with interest.

"I'd rather not say. It was rather... disgusting."

"Try me."

" _Voro Iecur._ It is a spell which..."

"Which replaces the insides of your kidneys with acid? Very nasty curse."

Harry looked shocked. And was about to question his counterpart about his knowledge of such dark spells before Harry **''** spoke before he could.

"I know the spell simply because I've read a lot of dark arts books not because I want to use those spells but simply to have a counter to them should I ever have the need to protect myself from such spells."

"Oh... I see... But why?"

"That's a stupid question."

Harry looked down feeling stupid indeed. It _was_ a stupid question.

"But why in your third year itself. Sure maybe I should be doing what you're doing, but I have a reason. What about you?"

"Did you really think a person like Voldemort would let you live after you deprived him of a body all those years ago and prevented his resurrection in your first year?"

"I never expected him to come back," admitted Harry.

"I did. You should always foresee all possible scenarios and prepare accordingly."

"I'm not you," said Harry.

"No, you're not. And you never will be."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"Do you think you're the one who is going to defeat Voldemort!" asked Harry suddenly.

His younger counterpart scoffed. "That's a stupid question again. From my point of view I know I'll be the one to kill him."

"And why is that?"

Harry **''** shrugged. "I'd rather not say."

Harry looked at him incredulously. "How can you think you're going to stand a chance against him! He's the most powerful dark lord in history for crying out aloud!"

"I know I can beat him," said Harry **''** quietly. "I know I have the ability and power to destroy him and avenge the death of my parents. I won't allow my mother's sacrifice go in vain.

.

.

Can you say the same about yourself?"

Harry stared at Harry **''** with pain flooding his eyes.

"Look at history," continued Harry **''**. "You and I defeated him as a baby. You fought him in your first year, you fought a younger version of him in your second and then in the graveyard and survived. Don't you see a pattern? You were meant to fight him and once the wizarding world accepts his return they are going to look towards you to protect them. The sooner you accept that fact, the better it will be for you."

Harry laughed bitterly. "Protect them? The same people who want me thrown in Azkaban because I told them the truth about Voldemort! The same people who would just love to spit in my face if I walked past them!"

Harry **''** shrugged. "This is what I think is going to happen. It's logical. Voldemort is not going to stay underground forever. He is going to be surface one day and the common people will be looking for a hero to save them. Years ago it was Dumbledore and now it's you."

"I'm no hero," said Harry at once. "I don't even have a tenth of the knowledge Dumbledore has."

"Then do something about it. Stop doing everything Dumbledore and the rest of his puppets tell you. Stop doing that ridiculous house cleaning and start learning new spells. You have Sirius living with you and maybe you should ask him to train you and improve your dueling skills instead of just rotting in this house."

Harry just looked forward impassively.

"It's your decision. Follow a path laid out for you by someone else or make a fork in that path and make one for yourself."

"I suppose that someone is Dumbledore."

"Who else could it be?"

"Maybe we should get going," said Harry suddenly, not feeling like continue this conversation anymore. "Dumbledore could be here any minute."

Harry **''** sighed. "Go ahead and call me when he actually reaches here."

Harry turned to leave without a word but was stopped again, this time by his younger self.

"Harry wait."

"What?"

"Why did you tell me about the scar?"

"Just wanted you to be prepared if it ever happened to you. You and I maybe every different, but the scar is common to the both of us."

"Maybe," said Harry **''**.

Harry shrugged. "You needed to know about it. You dislike Dumbledore too much to go to him for help if you ever have the problems I have with my scar."

"You got that right," muttered Harry **''**.

Harry smiled. "That's why I thought you'd appreciate a little advice about it."

"I do appreciate it but somehow I doubt it will affect me the same way it did to you."

"Why?" asked Harry curiously.

Harry **''** just shook his head. "Forget about it," he said, thinking about Dobby and the disgusting blackish green thing in his magical core.

"Tell me something Harry. Have you ever had any problems casting spells?" asked Harry **''**.

"No," said Harry looking confused.

"Once I'm gone, ask Dumbledore if he has ever placed any magical blocks on you."

"Magical what!"

"Block. A spell to restrict use of magic. Dumbledore put one on me before he placed me with the Dursley's. According to him, I was quite powerful as a child and he didn't want me performing accidental magic around the Dursley's and freak them out."

"You think he placed one on me!" he asked in slight panic.

"I don't, but you should ask him anyway."

"You don't think he placed a block on me? Why?"

"If I told you, you'd feel offended," said Harry **''** with a grin.

"Try me."

"Our personalities aren't the only thing different between us. I'm much more powerful than you too and I don't think you were that powerful as a kid for Dumbledore to have placed a block on you."

Harry indeed felt extremely offended. His counterpart made him feel like a poor excuse for a wizard. He had managed to the Patronus Charm when he was thirteen! He wasn't that weak!

"You talk like you're Merlin himself," said Harry, in an annoyed tone.

"Of course I'm not Merlin," said Harry **''** with a snort. "I could probably be more powerful than him," he added under his breath.

"What was that?" asked Harry.

"Nothing."

"You know, Mary beat you in a duel, so I bet she's as strong as you or maybe even more," said Harry.

Harry **''** spluttered. "What!"

"You know, the time you had to spend a month with her for a fist fight in the great hall," said Harry, now grinning broadly, their previous conversation pushed to the back of their minds but not forgotten.

"I'll have you know that I won that duel and it was Freckles who started the fight!" he said indignantly.

"Not the way Mary tells it," he said, grinning even more widely. He had found a way to unnerve the usually calm boy.

"She's an idiot," said Harry **''**. "I bet she couldn't do a simple disarming charm if you asked her."

"You know Harry **''** ," said Harry casually, rubbing his nails on his shirt. "The way you talk about her gives me the impression you like her."

"WHAT! Are you out of your feeble little mind!"

"Its like Ron and Hermione. Though they argue a lot, I'm sure they actually like each other a lot."

Harry **''** looked at his elder self in disgust. "You're mad."

"You're in denial."

"Say's the guy who keeps staring at Ginny's assets."

It was Harry's turn to splutter. "I do not stare at Ginny's... things!"

"Don't you think she has reasonably large boobs for someone of her age?" asked Harry **''** with a smirk.

"Yes, I mean no! I don't know because I don't _look_ at them!" he said putting his arms up.

"Sure, sure," said Harry **''** in a patronizing way.

Harry growled.

"You know, we should be downstairs. Mrs. Weasley might have had dinner ready by now," said Harry.

"Lead the way pervert."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The pair reached downstairs without incident. Harry **''** grimaced when he saw the entire Weasley clan in the living room.

Ron was sitting by the fire place talking with Hermione, Lillian and Tonks. Remus, Sirius and Mr. Weasley were having a conversation. The twins were sitting with the two eldest brothers hearing their stories about the countries they had visited.

Ginny was helping Mrs. Weasley lay the table.

"Psst Harry."

"What?"

"Look at Ginny," he said. "She's wearing a white shirt and you can practically see through them when she gets close to the light."

"I am not having this conversation with you!" he said hotly and made his way quickly towards the fire place.

Harry **''** chuckled and slowly made his way to the arm chair in the corner of the room. He sank into the chair comfortably observing everyone in the room. His eyes landed on Remus and Mr. Weasley and he realized that Sirius had gone.

Frowning he tried to locate the man.

"Boo," said a voice behind him in an attempt to scare him and failed miserably.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to," said Harry **''**.

"I thought I'd try to scare you but looks like it didn't work."

Harry **''** smiled.

"Hmm, you should do that more often."

"What's with everyone telling me to smile more?" said Harry **''** annoyed.

"It makes you look good! Your dad had a smile that could make the ladies swoon." Sirius paused. "Well except for your mother and you have the same smile! It's time you used it. And in the process if you ever find a chick how doesn't fall for your smile, she'll be the one whom you're going to spend the rest of your life with."

"That's the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard Sirius," said Harry **''**.

"It may seem bullshit now, but five or maybe seven years later, you'll think back and realize how right your godfather was," he said with a dreamily look on his face.

"Five to seven years is a long time."

"Time flies, but that isn't the reason I'm here."

"Then what is?"

"I came to give a goodbye present of sorts."

"A goodbye present?"

"Yup, you see, you made me realize that following Dumbledore's orders is not always... necessary and I ought to make some decisions on my own even if the old man just wants to keep me safe."

"Glad to see someone agrees with me."

"Yeah, and I realized that me staying in this hell hole and rotting is only going to kill me."

"So what have you planned?"

Sirius cast a silencing charm around them. "I'm going to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts!" said Harry **''** raising his eyebrows. "Now there's a hot zone."

"Harry might disagree with me, so I'm not going to tell him until I reach there and talk to him face to face."

"May I ask what you're going to do there when you arrive?"

"Train him, teach him how to fight. Sitting here and doing nothing is not going to help him and he needs someone to guide him in a different direction than the one Dumbledore is guiding him in."

Harry **''** looked extremely pleased. "You know, that's exactly what I told him not less than an hour ago."

"You did!"

"Yep, more or less what all you just said with a little more detail."

"What exactly did you tell him?"

"If he wants to talk to you about it, he'll talk. Else forget about it. Point is that I don't want him to lose the battle that is coming. He might not be me but he is me you understand?"

"You might not like him that much but you don't want to see a different you go down without a fight. Yeah I get you. But you should know that Harry will never go down without a fight. He believes in himself."

"He believes in what is right and honorable. He has absolutely no faith in his abilities and power. If he is anything or even remotely similar to me. Then I can tell you his abilities are far beyond what a normal wizard capabilities are."

"Are you saying you have powers a normal wizard doesn't have?"

"Don't ask me questions you know I'm not going to answer. All I'm asking you to do is make that son of bitch understand his worth and power. He has absolutely no self worth. From what I gather, the only reason he has been successful in whatever he has set out to accomplish is only because of desperation and sheer will power, but not belief in his own abilities."

"Do you know the extent of your abilities?" asked Sirius.

Harry **''** looked at Sirius is the eye. "What do you think?" he counter questioned.

"I think you do."

"You thought right."

"So when we went to Paris, did you have a back up plan?"

Harry **''** paused and then smiled. "In a way, yes."

Sirius laughed. "You're a curious boy Harry **''** , and extremely mature for a boy of your age."

Harry **''** shrugged. "I do my best."

"But let's put these things aside. I came here to give you a gift."

Harry **''** leaned back in his chair.

"Lean forward dammit."

"So it's knowledge then," said Harry **''** leaning forward.

"Not exactly. Tell me have you ever heard of the book, the marauders secret to failure?"

"The marauders secret to what!"

"Failure," said Sirius with a grin. "A catchy title don't you think?"

"Would certainly keep me away from it," he said.

"Or make you insanely curious as to what it could contain," added Sirius.

Harry **''** nodded. "I see your point. So what about it?"

Sirius's grin grew wider. "Have you ever considered becoming an animagus?"

"Whatever it was Harry **''** was expecting, it certainly wasn't this. "Become an animagus!" he said in shock.

"That's what I said."

"Well, I might have thought about it once or twice," he said with a frown. "I do have a book which as detailed explanation about becoming one though."

Sirius scoffed. "We had books too, but trust me, no book is like the marauders book of failure. Ask your Sirius about it and ask him to give you a clue to its location."

"You aren't going to give it to me!"

"Of course not. All our marauder stuff except for the cloak was hidden in Hogwarts. The map was in Filch's office and the book elsewhere."

"Speaking of the map, I got to somehow get it from the twins in my world."

"Good luck with that Harry **''** and don't forget to ask me about the clue."

"Are you going to tell Harry about it?"

"Maybe when I get to..." Sirius suddenly froze.

"What is it?"

"Food," he said in a trance like state and hurried to the table.

Harry **''** looked in the direction Sirius went and saw Mrs. Weasley carrying a huge chicken along with a dozen delicacies floating behind her.

"Food," whispered Harry **''** in a trance like state and hurried in same direction as Sirius.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dumbledore was tired and irritated.

He had spent the whole evening with Minister Fudge and his undersecretary showing them around the castle while they _inspected_ it and six hours later they were _still_ there sitting in his office sipping a cup of tea.

"Here's the thing Dumbledore. While the castle is in marvelous shape, you still haven't found a professor for the Defense against the Dark Arts post."

"I assure you minister, that I am still looking for one and I'm quite close to obtaining one."

"Well you see, that is the problem. Every professor you have hired has either had a disability or has been a murderer or has been a dark creature."

"If you are referring to Professor Lupin, then let me tell you he was one of the finest professors this school has had the honor of hiring.

"Hem, hem."

"Yes, Dolores?" he asked politely while wanting to transfigure her into a toad and throw her in the lake. Maybe the giant squid could do everyone a favor and consume her.

"Professor Lupin has had one of the worst records in the history of this school. Added to that, he was a dark creature and a danger to every student in this prestigious school."

"May I inquire as to who submitted the report on Professor Lupin?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

"It was Lucius Malfoy, headmaster."

"And is Lucius Malfoy not suspended as a member of the board of directors?"

"He is."

"Then I wonder as to how a suspended member was allowed to write a report on Professor Lupin and why did the ministry accept it?"

"How the ministry functions is none of your concern Dumbledore," snapped Fudge turning red. "We are basically here to assign Dolores Umbridge as the new Dark arts professor."

"You mean _Defense_ against the dark arts don't you Minister," mocked Dumbledore.

"Yes, of course. Since you have been unable to find a teacher with only a week remaining for term to begin. The ministry will be appointing a qualified employee from the ministry and Dolores Umbridge meets the necessary qualifications."

"Forgive me, but did you not receive a T in your defense owl undersecretary?"

Umbridge turned red. "I believe you are mistaken headmaster. Here is my OWL _and_ NEWT results," she said handing him a sheet of paper. And sure enough there were two bright O's beside the DADA in both sheets."

"I might be mistaken but I am sure you did not select DADA in after your OWL Dolores. I also have the Hogwarts records to prove it."

"Then the Hogwarts records are wrong!" said Fudge forcefully. "Dolores Umbridge is the new DADA professor and the sooner you accept it the better it will be for all of us."

"Then perhaps you will allow me to test her," said Dumbledore with steel in his voice.

"She has already been tested at the ministry."

"I believe that the headmaster has final authority over all appointments of professors in this school."

"Educational Decree Number 18 overrules the authority of the headmaster."

Dumbledore frowned. "I am unfamiliar with educational decree number 18."

Fudge grinned victoriously. "I was enforced just yesterday headmaster. It basically allows the ministry to have final say in the appointment of any professor at Hogwarts and in this case Dolores. Good day headmaster. Dolores will be here at the start of term," he said and walked out with the undersecretary right behind his heels.

"Merlin save this school," said Dumbledore with a sigh. As soon as the wards signaled their departure, he carefully dismantled all the listening charms Umbridge had tried to place when she thought he wasn't watching.

Once that was done, he opened his drawer and removed two vial of glittering sand and slipped it into his pocket. IT had taken him barely fifteen minutes to break into the department of mysteries and _borrow_ a time turner.

He then threw a pinch of floo powder said the required address and vanished in a swirl of green flames.

When Dumbledore arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld place, he expected to find a cheery dinner taking place, not find Mrs. Weasley yelling and screaming at her two youngest, Sirius, Remus and Mr. Weasley attempting to put out _flames_ from a burning table and Ms. Austin apologizing to anyone who'd listen to her.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on here?" he said out loud.

All movement seized for a moment before resuming again.

Dumbledore was perplexed.

Suddenly Mrs. Weasley shrieked loudly. "It's the headmaster!"

Thank you for acknowledging my presence Molly. Now can someone please explain what happened here, Remus?

Remus sighed. "I'm not really sure what happened headmaster. But it all started with a food fight between Ron and Ginny."

"Oh dear," said Dumbledore.

"I think Ronald here first tried hitting Hermione with a pea but missed and hit his younger sister who as we all know as a temper to match Molly's retaliated by throwing a piece of chicken leg that smacked him on the nose. Ron here got angry too and threw a scoop of ice cream that hit Ms. Austin in the face and that's when it gets weird."

"What do you mean?"

"Well Mary tried to avoid the ice cream by leaning back. But it did hit her and she fell back and the whole table suddenly caught fire!" said Fred.

Dumbledore frowned.

"The weirdest thing is that the table caught fire because a _fire ball_ came out of her hands when she fell."

"A fire ball!"

"Yes! Harry **''** here says that it's accidental magic and she has always had a severe reaction to cold things. But I don't think accidental magic can happen at the age of thirteen."

Dumbledore looked around and found Harry **''** sitting on the couch with his legs stretched out eating a large bowl of chocolate ice cream."

"Has this happened before, Harry **''**?" he asked.

Harry **''** looked up lazily. "How does it matter? You're here to take us back aren't you?" He glanced at Lillian who was looking quite nervous.

"That is right," replied Dumbledore.

Harry **''** stood up, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's roll!"

Dumbledore rubbed his forehead. "I'm sure everyone would like to know what happened here Harry **''**."

"And I want to get out of here as soon as possible and I'm sure Freckles feels the same way. The fire thing has happened before and our Dumbledore knows about it."

"Do you know why it happens Ms. Austin?"

"It's accidental magic professor," she said following Harry **''** strategy. "Our Dumbledore says it's because err… my magic hasn't quite matured yet and these incidents might keep happening."

Harry **''** applauded Lillian in his mind.

"I see," said Dumbledore quietly.

Harry **''** moved to Lillian's side. " Now can we _leave_ professor?"

Dumbledore nodded, the twinkle back in his eye. "I'm sure you'd like to say good bye to everyone."

"Goodbye Bitches," said Harry **''**.

There were gasps of outrage and a few wands pulled out which immediately went back with a glare from Mrs. Weasley. Lillian simply rolled her eyes and went and hugged Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm going to miss you all," she said tearfully.

"Oh for Christ's sake," muttered Harry **''**.

"What don't we get a hug?" said Harry in mock sadness.

"No, you guys stink."

Ron gasped, "No we don't!"

Lillian laughed. "Just kidding." She went and hugged both Harry and Ron and said bye to everyone else.

"Set your Potter's arse on fire for us Mary," shouted the twins.

Harry **''** was getting really impatient and sickened by all the drama.

"Well, goodbye then," she said again, walking over to Dumbledore who was standing next to the fire place.

"Just say Hogwarts Ms. Austin and you'll be taken to my office," said Dumbledore handing a little floo powder to Lillian and then to Harry **''**.

"Hogwarts!" shouted Lillian and vanished in a blaze of green fire.

Dumbledore motioned Harry **''** to go ahead.

"After you headmaster," said Harry **''** politely.

Dumbledore frowned and then nodded and he too vanished.

Harry **''** turned around and faced the crowd in the room and the few who were looking at him with disdain.

"Well bye then, hope we never see each other again," he said with a smirk.

"Get out of here Potter," said Ron.

Harry **''** smiled again and suddenly Harry felt extremely wary.

He then raised his hands and waved. Surprised by this gesture they others waved back but then their eyes widened in horror as they saw copious amounts of water gathering around Harry's **''** hands.

There were a few screams and shouts filled with panic as the water hit them like a punch in the gut.

And when the water receded Harry **''** Potter was no where to be seen.

"What the hell was that!" said Ron spitting water out of his mouth looking extremely shaken.

"He, he did it without his wand," muttered Hermione in awe and confusion.

Everybody was helping each one and the other to their feet each looking confused and shook up.

Harry went to help Ginny and stopped in his tracks. Ginny was wearing a white T-shirt and wet white T-shirts on girls without bra equals to transparent white T-shirt on said girl.

Harry swallowed a gulp and tried to keep his gaze on Ginny's face. He could practically feel the heat in his face and kept screaming in his mind, "That's Ron's baby sister! That's Ron's baby sister."

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Ginny, walking up to him looking concerned.

"Yeah… umm... I'm fine!" squeaked Harry.

"You sure? You look quite... red?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shook up that's all," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Aren't we all," she said.

"Err... maybe we should go and change don't you think?" said Harry looking down once again and cursing himself.

Ginny scoffed. "Are you a wizard or what?" she said. She quickly checked to see if her mother was looking and quickly cast a drying charm on Harry and her.

Harry gave a huge sigh a relief.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," she said with a grin and went off to help her mother with the rest of the cleaning.

"Had a nice view?" said a low voice from behind him.

He turned around cracking his neck and saw it was Sirius, much to his relief.

"Sirius! I don't know what you're talking about."

Sirius simply winked at him. "Don't worry," he said, "Your hormones are going to start going crazy. You're fifteen you know."

"So?"

"Get a girlfriend and have a good snog," he said. "You'll feel much better."

Harry blushed. "I'm not much of a ladies man Sirius. I think there are more important things to do rather then go looking for a girlfriend."

Sirius scoffed. "When you go to Hogwarts, ask some hot chick out on a date to Hogsmeade and you'll end up in a broom cupboard feeling like it's the most important thing in the world."

Harry stared at Sirius.

"It could be Ginny too you know," he said with a wink.

Harry removed his shoe and threw it at Sirius.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry **''** fell out of the floo feeling extremely sick. Fire travel or anything to do with fire always made his sick.

"Are you alright Mr. Potter?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Harry **''**.

"Sit down," he said gesturing to the empty chair next to Lillian.

"Aren't we going to the charms corridor?"

"There are a few things I need to explain first."

Harry **''** sat.

"A few weeks after you arrived a letter came out of the portal you two came through and it was addressed to me from me." That was a lie. The letter had arrived long before their arrival but they needn't know that.

"It was a letter from your Dumbledore who had somehow managed to discover the portal and send the letter to me by recreating the way you ended up here."

"So?"

"He explained to me how to send you back and the risks that went with them."

"Risk?" said Lillian.

"Yes, you should know that there are infinite number of alternate dimensions and going through the portal could dump you in anyone of them. But the letter your Dumbledore sent me had your spectacles attached to it so I'm assuming there is a link between you and your world that made sure the letter ended up in _this_ reality."

"So if we go through the portal, it is likely that we could end up in another alternate world," said Lillian.

"Yes, but most likely you will end up in your own because the link should work both ways. If a letter could find you then you should be able to get back to your world."

"So what's the problem?" asked Harry **''**.

"When you go through the portal, I want you both to concentrate on getting back to your own world and concentrate hard. We know nothing about this portal and if by any chance it can sense the desire of the traveler, it might just lead to the world you want it to lead you to."

"What if we end up in another world? Then what?" asked Lillian.

"That is why I'm giving you this," he said and pulled out the vial of the time sand.

"If you end up in a world not you own, use this and get out of there."

He handed the vial to Harry **''**.

"So we're going to leave the same way we came. With time sand and a spell," said Harry **''**.

"Yes."

"Quite simple. Can't believe it took you that long to figure it out."

"If I did then you wouldn't have been able to steal the Mona Lisa," said Dumbledore.

Harry **''** feigned ignorance. "Don't know what you're talking about," he said.

Dumbledore chuckled. "The muggle authorities were most perplexed when they found the painting near the entrance of the museum."

"Imagine that."

"And I assume you cannot control your elemental ability Ms. Austin?"

"I don't know what your talking about headmaster," she said looking bewildered.

Dumbledore chuckled again. "You two are quite the pair," he said. "I can imagine the trouble you get into at Hogwarts."

"She gets into trouble not me," said Harry **''** jerking his finger at Lillian. "If I ever get into trouble its because she dragged me into it."

Lillian smirked.

"And you let her drag you into it?"

"My common sense abandons me when she starts ranting and raving about conspiracies and plots," he said.

"I don't rant and rave! And I was right in our first year," she said indignantly.

"And if we would have gone to Professor Snape like I suggested, I wouldn't have ended up in the hospital wing," he shot back.

The two continued to argue until they reached the corridor and Dumbledore had a bright smile underneath his moustache and beard.

"We're here," announced Dumbledore. "Please step back."

The pair took a step back and Dumbledore removed the powerful spell concealing the runes on the wall.

"Wow," said Harry **''** when the runes came into sight.

Lillian nodded. "Never thought something like this would be concealed on this wall."

"These runes are very old and I myself cannot interpret them. They are extremely complex and of course, serves as a portal to different dimensions."

"So how are we doing this?" asked Harry **''**.

"Stand next to the wall," said Dumbledore.

Harry **''** and Lillian walked together and stood next the wall.

"Maybe you should hold hands," said Dumbledore. "You wouldn't want to end up in two different worlds would you?"

The two exchanged a glance and Lillian slipped her hand into Harry's **''** without complaints from either. This wasn't a moment to argue about holding hands.

Dumbledore pulled out another vial from his pocket and showered the two with the time sand.

"Good Luck Harry **''** , Lillian," he said and raised his wand.

Harry **''** and Lillian held each others hands tightly holding their breaths.

"Scroufigy," said Dumbledore and the two dimensional travelers were swallowed by darkness.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

There were almost instantly thrown out of the portal and Harry landed on the ground hard followed by Lillian who fell on him knocking the wind out of him.

"Oof," gasped Harry pushing her off him. "Couldn't you fall somewhere else?"

"Like I forced myself to land on you," she bit back. "Where are we anyway?"

Both got to their feet and realized they weren't at Hogwarts anymore. Harry summoned his wand and lit its end.

They were in a cave without any exit. He looked back and there was a wall with the same runes that were there in Hogwarts.

"We certainly aren't in Hogwarts anymore," said Harry.

"10 points for stating the obvious Potter," said Lillian. "But does this mean we aren't in our world?"

"Oh you're in your own world alright," said a voice from behind them.

Harry and Lillian turned sharply their wands at the ready.

"Whoa, whoa, came down. I mean you no harm," said the man.

Harry and Lillian stepped closer as the man came into the light. He looked like he was little over sixty with grey hair and a slightly wrinkled face. He wasn't too tall and was dressed in casual muggle clothes.

"Who are you?" asked Lillian.

"Well, I'm just an old man who's wondering my two kids from Hogwarts have invaded my cave."

"Bullshit," said Harry. "You knew we were from another world and according to you we're back in our own. So you know who we are but we don't know who you are."

The man chuckled. "Glad to see you mind is a little sharp."

"Thank you," said Lillian. "And I'll repeat Potter's question, who are you?"

"Don't you want to get out of this cave first?" asked the man, producing a glass ball which was glowing blue from within his robes.

Both the thirteen year olds had guarded expressions on their face.

"Why should we trust you?" asked Harry.

"Do you see any other way out of this place?" asked the man mildly.

Harry slowly lowered his wand and the man smiled.

"You said we were back in our own world. Then why aren't we at Hogwarts?"

"You really didn't think there was only one portal in the world did you?" asked the man humorously. "If you really want to know I can monitor the entry and exit of anyone who uses the portal. So instead of you coming out of the portal in Hogwarts. I made sure you'd come out here!" he said cheerfully.

"Why?" asked Lillian sharply. His cheerful demeanor was beginning to test her patience.

The man looked surprised. "Well to meet the only fire and ice elemental's in the world of course!" he said like it were the most obvious thing.

Both students were shocked and raised their wands again taking a step back.

The man laughed. "Why don't you take a hold of this portkey and I'll answer all your questions."

"How about I set you on fire and watch your skin melt until you answer our questions," growled Lillian.

"Hmm, fire elementals do have a temper don't they Harry?"

Now Harry and Lillian were getting a little freaked out. This man knew practically _everything_ about them!

He laughed again.

"How long has it been since we left," asked Harry slowly, not lowering his wand.

The man rubbed his chin frowning. "Well I suppose it was about half a second the instant you came out from the portal and now its about five minutes since you entered the portal in Hogwarts."

The elementals gaped at him. "You're lying," said Harry at once.

"Am I?"

"Its not possible," agreed Lillian.

"You sure?" he asked playfully stepping closer.

Harry raised his wand higher.

"Oh my," said the man suddenly.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Tell me something young man. Did your wand chose you or you just happened to find it and began to use it!"

That was the limit.

A number of ice shards burst out of Harry's hand and headed towards the man at incredible speed.

There was no way the man could avoid them but shockingly the shards just dissolved into water as they neared him and splashed harmlessly at his feet.

Harry was unable to hide his shock. "Who are you?" he hissed.

Now the man smiled. Apparently he was waiting for one of them to react. "My name is Nicolas Flamel, young Potter. And you are currently in my domain."

"Nicolas Flamel!" gasped Lillian.

"Yes, Ms. Austin. And I have been waiting for an opportunity to meet the two of you."

"Flamel," said Harry in slight confusion. "Nicolas Flamel is supposed to be dead."

"That's not true," said Flamel. "Just because Albus destroyed the stone, doesn't mean I'm going to die immediately."

"Can you prove it?"

"Take the portkey and you'll have all the proof you need," he said.

"Maybe we should do as he says," whispered Lillian. "There's no point in just waiting here. After you attacked him, we know we can't hurt him but I'm sure he can hurt us."

Harry nodded and the two of them pocketed their wands and put on finger each on the portkey.

Nicolas smiled. "I'm glad you chose to trust me."

"We don't trust you," said Lillian. "We just don't have a better option."

"I like you already," said Flamel, as the portkey activated.


	31. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29 – The Flamel's**

Harry managed to stay on his feet when they reached their destination. After going through inter dimensional portals, portkey's didn't feel all that bad. Lillian still managed to fall flat on her face though. It would probably take her a little more time to manage to remain standing.

They were in a small room which had a table, three chairs and a single bulb flickering dimly. The paint was dilapidated and the walls were cracked in so many places, it was a wonder the roof hadn't fallen in yet.

"Where are we?" asked Lillian.

"A place where we can talk," replied Flamel.

"Looks more like a place to die," muttered Harry.

"Take a seat," said Nicolas.

He walked over towards the wall to their right and to Harry and Lillian's surprise he pulled out three bottles of butter beer through the wall.

"Looks like there more to this room than meets the eye," commented Harry.

"Its purpose varies from time to time. And right now its purpose is for us to talk."

"Couldn't talking be done in a safer location?"

"It's safe," said Flamel.

"Why can't we go back to Hogwarts?" asked Lillian.

"How long did you spend in the other world Ms. Austin?" asked Flamel instead of answering her question.

"Five weeks," she said.

"Five long weeks," he said slowly. "Tell me how different was that world?"

"Potter was a Gryffindor I apparently did not exist, so yeah, it was quite different."

"Hmmm, how very interesting," he muttered. "Well, now let me explain a few things about the portal. I'm sure you know by now that there are an infinite number of parallel universes or alternate realities."

Harry and Lillian nodded simultaneously.

"The portal serves as a door for each one of them but you cannot select the door you want. The portal will select a door at random. Usually when two people enter the portal they will never end up in the same world. But in your case, I suppose you were extremely close to each other, so when you went through the portal you were considered as a single entity."

Flamel paused.

"You weren't doing anything you weren't supposed to be doing were you?"

"NO!" shouted the pair.

Flamel smiled. "So how did the portal activate? 20 milliseconds is not enough time to gather information."

"It was because of the sand from a time turner and a random spell," said Harry.

"Ah," muttered Flamel, "That could certainly act as a trigger to activate the runes."

"You can read them?" asked Lillian.

"Of course. I wouldn't be able to use it otherwise," he said.

"What _can_ it be used for?" asked Harry interestedly.

"Not a lot of things," said Flamel with a smile. "But we're straying of the topic. The reason you are here is because you cannot go back to Hogwarts until the time you spent in the other world is elapsed in this world."

"So you weren't lying when you said not even a second had passed since we left?"

"I haven't lied to you since we met," said Flamel. "That's the way the portal works. You can go to a number of worlds, spend some time there but when you come back to your own, you'll find no time has passed at all."

"So why can't we go back to Hogwarts?"

"You have spent five week there have you not?"

"Yes," said Lillian.

"Was it the past or the present or the future?"

"Future."

"All the more reason I cannot allow you to go to your school. You have knowledge of future events even if they might differ to an extent and added to that your absence has changed the fate of many things, for good or bad we do not know. If you were to go back and try to change things based on what you have learnt you would simply make things even more worse than they could be."

"Why would things change because we left?"

"You left. That's the bottom line. That is why traveling through the portal is so dangerous. Even if you left for a micro milli second, you have changed the future of this world and of the world you visited. That's the way the universe works."

"I don't understand," said Lillian.

"Think of it has a balloon filled with air," said Flamel. "The portal creates a hole in the balloon and the air escapes and could be used to fill another balloon. You are the air and the balloon is the world.

Now what happens when the air leaves a balloon?"

"It becomes a thin rubber piece?"

"Or you can say it collapsed," said Flamel grimly as his point hit home.

"You're saying our world could collapse!" said Harry aghast. Lillian looked equally horrified.

"But you came back," continued Flamel. "The balloon has its air back but the damage is done."

"What kind of damage are we talking about?" asked Lillian fearfully.

"I told you. Lot's of things could have their fates changed. Lots of events are going to happen differently than they would have if you hadn't left. Same goes for the world you went too. That balloon had an excess of air and could have burst, but you left so it returned to its original shape but there was damage there too," he said.

"And all this wouldn't have happened if that idiot Granger hadn't dropped her time turner," muttered Harry.

"All this wouldn't have happened if Malfoy didn't trip her," shot back Lillian.

"I agree," said Harry, surprising Lillian. "It's both their faults. Granger's for running with the time turner in her hand and Malfoy's for tripping her."

Lillian simply nodded. His agreeing with her had left a little stunned.

"Is the change good or bad?" asked Harry.

"It depends on what you consider yourself to be," he replied.

The message was clear. The change was bad and most probably good in the other world.

"So what now?" asked Lillian.

"Now you stay with me and my wife for 5 weeks and we shall help you with develop your elemental powers," he said with a smile.

A shiver of excitement ran down both elementals back. Training with a man and his wife who were both over six centuries old would be exciting.

"Wait," said Harry suddenly.

"What is it?" asked Flamel.

"I still want to see proof about you being who you say you are."

"Will the Philosophers stone be enough?"

"The stone was destroyed," said Lillian at once.

"And I can't make another?" he questioned.

Lillian shut her mouth with a snap.

"But no, I haven't made another," he added.

"So the one in Hogwarts was fake!"

"Of course not," he said. "Albus wouldn't be fooled by a fake stone. After all he has seen the stone before."

"I'm confused now," said Harry.

Nicolas laughed. "Well looks like a have a long story to tell you. And it's a story I have to tell you after seeing your wand Harry."

"What's my wand got anything to do with you?" asked Harry cautiously.

"Everything," replied Flamel solemnly.

Lillian raised her eyebrows.

"Has the wand spoken with you Harry?"

Harry glanced towards Lillian.

"You both are going to share everything from now on. You both are elementals and elementals should stick close to each other. Plus you both are going to stay at my home for more than a month so you better learn to trust and get along with each other," he said firmly.

"I was going to say yes anyway," muttered Harry.

"That means it has really accepted you as its master and you really have the potential to be stronger than the eldest brother."

Harry nodded.

"I'm lost," announced Lillian.

"The wand Harry holds is very special Lillian," said Flamel.

"I know its special," she said. "I was there when he got it for the first time and I was there when Ollivander told him the story of the deathly hallows. But I certainly don't remember him saying anything about the wand accepting someone who was stronger than the eldest brother and things like that."

"Then I'm sure you'd like to hear what I have to say," he said. "The Deathly Hallows is merely a story. A fairy tale made by the youngest brother to keep the real story hidden."

Lillian was listening with rapt attention and so was Harry even though he already knew it.

"An extremely long story cut short. Death in the deathly hallows story was a living evil creature. It could take any physical form it wanted and was extremely powerful and dangerous and I do not need to say more to emphasis its power. Let's just say it makes Voldemort look like a cute puppy."

Both Harry and Lillian gulped.

"Now at that time there were three brothers. The brothers you have heard about in the story. These brothers were also extremely powerful and were almost an equal match for the evil being. After a long battle which nobody knows the details about. Evil was defeated and he gave the three brothers a gift each in exchange for its life.

"They let such a thing live!" exclaimed Lillian.

"Yes," he said shortly. "The eldest brother was given an unbeatable wand, the second the resurrection stone which can revive the dead but not in physical form and the youngest got the cloak of invisibility."

Lillian looked at Harry in shock. She realized he had two of the gifts. The invisibility cloak and the wand!

"The first two brothers died a few years later but the youngest lived on. Now the youngest brother was the smartest and it was because of his brilliant thinking that the evil being was defeated. He initially was against letting the being live on but he too succumbed to greed and accepted the gift evil gave them.

Later he was consumed by guilt after his brothers died and he vowed to hunt down the being and destroy it forever. But he was unsuccessful. Evil was cunning and smart too. It did something the youngest brother never even dreamed was possible."

"What did it do?" whispered Lillian.

"It created a different plane of existence where it stored its consciousness and essence. It created books with spells which when used by wizards would give them strength and power. But in reality the strength gained by the wizard is connected to the creature and with each spell used, it's power would too increase."

"We call these books and the spells in it the dark arts today," he said.

"Over time it will gain enough strength and it has been waiting for the perfect vessel for it to take over and regain its former strength."

"It has been more than a thousand years and it hadn't found a worthy vessel until Tom Marvolo Riddle was born. This man who has become the most powerful dark lord known to wizards can be the perfect vessel for the being to regain its consciousness and power in this world because lord Voldemort has immersed himself so deeply into the dark arts and is still doing so."

"What happened to the youngest brother?" asked Harry.

"He died eventually," said Flamel. "But not before finding someone to carry on what he had been trying to do."

"It was you I suppose," said Lillian.

"Initially no," said Flamel. "You might not believe me but it was Merlin whom he chose at first."

"No way!" gasped Harry.

"Yes way. But unfortunately Merlin was too enamored by wealth and fame and he did not do what was required of him by the brother."

"Merlin enamored by wealth and fame? That's absurd! He was known as Merlin the wise for crying out aloud!"

"Oh don't get me wrong," said Flamel. "He certainly was wise, powerful and a good man. But he wanted to be in the spot light. And the youngest brother didn't want that. So his plan failed."

"How old was he anyway?" asked Harry. "I remember the wand telling me that the brothers and evil had their great battle during the start of man kind, when everything was magic and there were no such things as wizards and muggles."

Flamel smiled. "He was old, really, really old and he was the one who had created the Philosophers stone. I merely cracked his formulae over a period of time and created my own which was known to the wizarding world and Dumbledore."

"Then how old are you?" asked Lillian.

"Much more than what the world believes me to be," he said with a smirk. "You two must understand that this is not about Voldemort overthrowing the ministry of magic or Dumbledore having his way in the ministry and things like that. This is about the survival of everything as we know it and I have been doing everything in my power to keep postponing the day it happens."

"How did he choose you?" asked Harry. "The youngest brother I mean."

"I tried to steal his money pouch. I was thirteen, a street rat and very hungry," he said with a laugh. "I can never forget that day. I sneaked up to him, managed to cut the bottom of his pouch and take all his gold and escape. And then suddenly I find myself hanging upside down with him peering into my face looking like Father Christmas himself."

"He chose you because you stole his money!"

"He chose me because he sensed the power within me. The same power he felt within Merlin. He decided to take me in and train me in the arts of magic and science."

"Science!"

"He was a man who believed in utilizing knowledge from both the muggle and magical world. But because of what happened with Merlin, he made me swear an oath."

"What oath?" asked Lillian at once.

"I cannot interfere in the daily activities of witches and wizards. I cannot share my knowledge except when it was found in collaboration with other wizards or witches. I am supposed to hide my existence from the world and remain hidden, dead to all, the only exception being when I have no choice and have to show myself for a period of time and then go into hiding again.

Like now, the world believes the philosophers stone to be destroyed and I'll be going into hiding again, dead to the world."

"Must be hard," said Lillian.

"Quite the opposite, I have Penny and that's all I need," he said.

"Your wife," stated Harry.

"Right."

"Where is she anyway?" asked Lillian.

"You'll be meeting her soon enough. She's currently preparing our temporary home."

"There's one thing I don't understand though," said Lillian.

"And what is that?"

"You told us this big story about three brothers, an evil being, a powerful wand and all that but why? You said it was because the wand accepted Harry as the master of the wand and he could become more powerful than the oldest brother, who I'm guessing was the strongest. Does this mean Harry will be the one to destroy Voldemort or the evil being?"

Flamel glanced at Harry and nodded.

"Well," she said cheerfully. "I guess there's no need to worry then."

Flamel frowned, looking slightly confused for the first time since they met him. "Now I don't understand."

"If there's anyone who could defeat Voldemort and this super dangerous evil thing, Its Harry."

Harry looked at Lillian in surprise.

"Why do you think that?"

"You said it yourself Mr. Flamel. Harry has the cool wand, he's an ice or water elemental and he has his cool moving things power," she said.

"Moving things power?" he asked.

"I'll show you later," said Harry, feeling a little pleased with Lillian's evaluation of his chances. He realized she believed in him and that made him feel a lot of things he didn't have the answer too.

Suddenly a red glass ball fell from the ceiling on the table with a slight bump.

"Looks like our home for 5 weeks is ready," he said cheerfully. "Now remember this," he added his expression hardening. "You are not here to waste time. You are here because you are going to be trained to control your element. Your five weeks here are going to be the most intense ever. You are going to be trained in the art of physical combat, elemental combat and various other things. This is _not_ a vacation, do you understand?"

"Yes," said the two of them solemnly.

He tapped the glass ball and it divided into three pieces.

"One for each of us," he said.

"Why?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"To your rooms of course," he said with a laugh. "I want you to be fresh when you meet my dear wife. Now touch the portkey."

All three touched their respective portkey's.

"Oh by the way," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"Be sure to find the red rose," he said and everything became a blur for both Harry and Lillian.

* * *

The first thing Harry realized when he stopped was that he was falling.

He didn't even have time to think as he began to hurtle to the ground. His body was twisting and turning in the turbulent air and panic had enveloped his mind and body. The brief sights of a burning inferno instead of Earth did nothing to help him.

"Calm down!" he screamed in his mind but it was useless. Coupled with the speed at which he was falling and the fear that he was feeling it was just impossible to think.

The fire was fast getting closer to him and one thought began to dominate his mind. "I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"

"No you're not, use your element!" suddenly screamed another part of his mind and then he remembered a sky diving show when he was at the Dursley's and he tried parting his arms and legs to gain some stability. He could hear the wind blowing past him at incredible speed and he could also hear his heart and was sure that it was beating at ten times its normal pace.

He couldn't breathe properly and he had to keep his eyes half shut or else he was sure that his eyelids would get ripped away because of the wind. He tired to send a blast of water and try to douse the fire but the water simply blew away because of the speed at which he was falling.

He closed in eyes in another massive effort to calm himself and began to form a large ball of water in his palm and began to cover himself completely with it when he was barely 100 feet away. He could feel the powerful heat begin to engulf his body and he began to freeze the water into ice to save him from being fried.

He plunged into the fire and the ice began to melt. He couldn't breathe as his entire body was covered in ice and it took Harry every ounce of strength and concentration to hold the ice firm and match the power of the fire.

He realized he was still falling and there didn't seem to be an end to his free fall.

It was unfortunate that he had to think of an end to the fall because suddenly the fire vanished and the ground began to come closer as he fell.

Harry's eyes widened. There was no way to break his fall at the pace he was going at and he did the only thing that came to his mind. He faced his palm downwards as he fell and blasted another jet of water in an effort to create some sort of lake to break his fall.

His effort was met with partial success. He slammed into the water and then felt his body slam into the ground too... hard.

Slowly the water spread and seeped into the ground leaving a motionless Harry on the hard surface. Moaning he tried to move but it was too painful. He tried to say something and then realized his mouth was full of blood. He spat it out pushed himself to his knees, the blood dripping down his chin.

It was over, thought Harry breathing hard. He looked at his hand and saw they were shaking badly. His looked at his clothes and saw they were burnt away in places and his skin had slight burns too.

"Flamel," thought Harry angrily. "That man had just tried to kill him! Was he even who he said he was?"

"Look for the red rose." That's what that man had said to them before the portkey dropped him in hell.

Harry looked around and saw nothing but flat dry land with a blazing sun directly above him. He was in a place which would be the worst possible place for an ice elemental.

There were no trees, no shrubs, nothing. It was a hard ground with no sand and a hot sun above him.

"Where the hell am I?" he shouted, "Is anybody there!"

.

.

.

"FLAMEL!" he screamed and fell back on the ground, exhausted after the use of his element so extensively.

He could feel the heat beating down on his back and sweat began to drip from his body.

"Okay, Harry, think rationally," he said to himself taking deep breaths. "You're in a place with nothing around... a few minutes ago this place was nothing but fire and now its nothing but a barren land with the goddamn sun right above me."

Suddenly realization struck him. "This is a bloody test! That bastard left me here to test me!" he said feeling the rage build up within him.

"That no good, bloody senile old man!"

He would have continued his furious rant if it hadn't felt like the temperature had gotten higher.

Sighing he began to walk. He didn't know in which direction but he just began to walk wondering if Lillian was in a similar situation as he was.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lillian was suffering the same fate as Harry. She hadn't fallen from the sky but was in a deep pit with a blizzard blowing around her. She had practically frozen to death before she had the sense to start a fire around her to protect her from this freezing cold.

When the portkey dumped her in the pit there was no blizzard. It was merely a really deep hole with snow everywhere and there was a cold wind blowing around her.

She was extremely frightened when she saw nobody was with her and she certainly wasn't in any bedroom or a house for that matter. She draped her hands around her shoulders shivering in the cold. Then somehow with her teeth chattering she yelled out, "Hello?"

The instant the word left her mouth the wind began to pick up pace and she fell to her knees feeling the chill right down to her bone and then she noticed her hands began to turn blue. It had all taken about 10 seconds for the sudden temperature shift.

The wind began to blow faster and faster before ice pieces started pelting her drawing blood.

"H-help me," she whispered as another ice piece hit her face. She couldn't move and half her body had turned numb. She couldn't think or process anything that was happening because of the intense cold.

She was lying on the ground curled into a ball shivering. She couldn't do anything because it was so cold. Her mind absolutely refused to do anything. She hadn't even got the time to panic or try to escape before the cold wind had captured her. She soon didn't even feel the ice shards hitting her and she didn't notice her blood freezing on the surface of her skin.

.

.

.

And then she felt it. It was like a heart beat in her stomach. Sudden warmth began to spread through her body giving her strength. And then fire erupted from every inch of her body. It roared with all the fury and rage that had been suppressed by the cold and didn't allow even a single crystal of snow or the cold wind to reach her.

If she had looked in a mirror, she would have seen a golden ring around the pupil of her eyes.

She began to walk in an attempt to find shelter, but she always hit a wall of ice where ever she went. She screamed in anger and her fire grew even more powerful and began to melt the ice in every direction. But the blizzard which had formed around her was strong too.

Everything she melted simply hardened again.

She had the fire running for 20 minutes continuously while trying to find a way out of this hell hole even the exhaustion started setting in.

She looked at herself and realized all the clothes she had on and been long burnt to ash and she couldn't care less. Survival was the only thing on her mind and if the clothes had to go, then the clothes had to go.

"Bloody Flamel," she muttered, coming to the same conclusion as Harry. She surveyed her surroundings again but couldn't even see what was there a feet ahead of her.

Sighing and shivering in spite of the fire around her body. She began walking until hitting the wall of ice again.

An idea stuck her. Smiling to herself she placed her palms on the ice wall and began to melt the ice only to have it get frozen and filled with snow again.

She growled. It was like she was in a tornado of snow and ice. Closing her eyes she began again. It was really hard maintaining the fire around her and melting the ice at the same time but she concentrated hard, mentally thanking Harry for the book he had gifted to her last Christmas.

As the ice melted she quickly climbed in and began to melt the ice at her hip level again.

She was creating a make shift stair case all the way to the top. She looked behind her for and instant and realized that she wasn't in the blizzard anymore. She stopped the fire around her and realized the ice had formed again behind her and had stopped the cold from entering.

"Like an igloo," she whispered. She was trapped within the ice and the only way out was to keep melting the ice and heading upwards until she reached the surface. She looked at the ice again and saw her reflection. The fire around her had burnt her clothes to ash but hadn't harmed her body.

"It would be pointless to be a fire elemental if the fire burnt you," she mused, examining her reflection. Her body and curves were developing in all the right places she thought with a smile before smacking herself on the forehead.

"This is not the time to be admiring your self Mary!"

Now that she was out of the blizzard she felt a little exposed without her clothes but forced herself to forget about it for the time being.

Ignoring her lack of clothing she began task of tunneling to the surface again. She kept melting the ice and kept moving one step closer to the surface at a time but after what she felt was ages there was still no sight of the surface.

She was exhausted and hungry.

Her anger grew. "DAMN IT!" she screamed in frustration banging the wall of ice. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! What gives that bastard the right to do this to me! Oh god, I'm sure even Potter is in a similar situation as I am," she thought in horror.

A lone tear rolled down her cheek but her resolve to get out of her and make Flamel suffer strengthened. She began to feel the cold from the ice because of staying stationary.

It stuck her mind that she could conjure some clothes for her instead of feeling uncomfortable every time she looked into the ice and saw herself. She tried putting her hand in her pocket but simply touched her thigh.

"Oh my god, my wand!" she said in panic. "Where is my wand!"

She began looking around everywhere but there was hardly anywhere to look. Either it had fallen in the blizzard or it was burnt.

Now she really felt like crying. Harry was lucky he didn't have to face the problem of getting clothes and wands burnt and as her sadness grew there was a flash of fire beside her and Lo Behold, her wand dropped next to her.

"MY WAND!" she yelled in delight and hugged it joyfully, feeling the warmth within her increase.

Giving a sigh of relief she pointed the wand in front of her and concentrated on conjuring a woolen pant and a thick woolen parka.

Even though it was complex transfiguration she had taken a leaf out of Harry's book and studied ahead. And it was much easier after Harry had explained the basic concept of transfiguration to her.

She was extremely pleased when she succeeded on her first try.

She put them on welcoming the warmth they provided. There was no need to have a fire burning around her body now so there was no risk of them getting burnt. But she put a fire resistant charm on them just in case.

With renewed energy she began melting the ice and making her way to the top again. It was a tedious task and she didn't know how much time had elapsed and she didn't care. She ignored the pangs of hunger and the want of her body to just lie down and give up.

She kept going and going and going until she finally saw a glimpse of something above her.

Excitement bubbled within her as she melted the ice again and moved one step closer to the surface. Even her fire had become weak and was taking more time to melt the ice. Her hands were aching and bleeding and her head was spinning.

It didn't occur to her that her head was spinning because of the lack of oxygen in this prison of ice but finally she broke to the surface and fell on the snow with a cry of relief and joy.

Her joy vanished when she saw nothing but snow all around her and a light cold breeze blowing against her.

"No," she whispered, dropping to her knees. "This cannot be happening."

Tears began to roll down freely now as she was at her limit after tunneling through god knows what distance and god knows for how long. She began weeping and curled into a ball to escape the cold not having the strength to summon her element.

"I'm going to die here," she thought miserably. "I'm going to die," she whispered.

She could feel the cold seeping in through her unprotected hands and realized they had become blue again. Closing her eyes she tried to conjure fire but it was of no use. She could barely feel the warmth in her hand.

She didn't have the strength to move nor to use magic and just wanted to crawl back into her hole and stay there.

She was going to die with nothing but white snow around her without a soul in sight.

She was lying flat on her back, her hair spread beneath her and her eyes staring upwards without any sign of life. She could feel the cold wind beat upon her face. She turned her face to the left to avoid the wind when saw something that made her eyes go wide.

It was a red rose.

She pushed herself to her knees and began to crawl towards it one step at a time.

Each step was agony to her aching mind and body and when she reached it there was no sense of joy or victory. Only curiosity as to why she had suffered so much just to get to a rose. She started to hate that rose with a passion.

She lifted it by the stem examining it closely. She tried to stand and crush the rose beneath her bare feet when black spots began to form in front of her eyes.

"What the?" she murmured and lost consciousness barely feeling the tug below her navel.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry kept walking. He had discarded his shirt a long time ago, conjured an umbrella and was feeling extremely dehydrated.

Every now and then he would drink water from his hand and keep pouring water over himself to keep himself cool only to have the water evaporate within seconds.

"This is ridiculous," thought Harry. He had no clue where to go and was sure more than an hour had passed since he fell from the sky and nearly broke every bone in his body.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" he muttered. "There's nothing in sight!"

He continued walking desperately hoping that he would find that red rose he was supposed to and find a way out of this place.

He kept walking and walking _and_ walking till he could walk no more.

He was physically and mentally spent. His head felt like a hammer was being whacked on it every second because of walking in the sun for so long. And he had always had bad reactions to being in the sun for a long period of time.

Even the ground felt hot through his shoes.

"This is pointless," he said with a sigh. He summoned his wand and conjured a dark tent and a bath tub too. He filled the tub with cold water and slowly slipped into it with his pants on.

"Oh god, this feels so great," he said with a moan as the water seeped thorough his shoes and pants. He slowly went a little lower covering himself completely with water except for his head.

The water became colder at his command.

It was funny though. Water around his seemed to obey his commands. Even if he were at a distance and he wanted the water to rise or change temperatures it would happen. The only thing he could not do was make the water hotter or change it to steam or change vapors to water.

He could not control very hot water that efficiently. But as long it was in liquid or solid state. It was under his control.

"Screw the red rose," he muttered. "I'm content to be waiting here until that son of a bitch decides to get me out of here."

10 seconds passed after his statement when the ground began to shake.

Harry looked around frowning and then his eyes widened.

"Oh damn," he said.

He could hear the roar of the flames as they grew closer. Harry was having difficulty standing. As it is, his feet were aching and now he was surrounded by fire which was moving towards him at quite a speed. There was no way of escaping.

His slight rest seemed to have disabled his ability to think because he did nothing as the flames steadily grew closer and he did nothing even he began to feel intense heat around his body.

He simply didn't do anything because he simply thought Flamel wouldn't dare do anything that could hurt him permanently. Or even kill him.

He ignored the voice at the back of his mind screaming at him to do something. All his pain seemed to vanish as the fire grew closer and he knew that all he had to do was step into the fire for all the pain to go away.

Pain? He thought with a frown. What happened to all the pain? Why couldn't he feel the heat anymore?

Let's just step into the fire, he thought with a silly grin on his face.

"Protect your self!" the voice at the back of his mind roared and whatever enchantment was messing with his mind was broken.

The pain came back in waves and the fire was barely a hundred feet away.

With a yell of panic he covered himself with water and lowered its temperature drastically while continuously blasting water into the inferno that was all around him.

He could barely keep the fire at bay and could feel the heat even with his temporary water cover.

He fell to his knees with both his arms on either side poring water into the fire. He closed his eyes and brought its temperature down to bare minimum without freezing it but it was useless.

Whatever enchantment that had been messing with his mind has weakened him severely and his body could not take the stress of holding of the fire forever. He was exhausted in every possible way.

Black spots began to gather in front of his eyes as the fire inched closer to him.

He began to hear whispers all around him and time seemed to slow down.

"Pull it out," said the whispers and Harry frowned.

The flames were moving slowly and he could see the water coming out from his hand drop by drop.

"Pull it out," said the whispers again.

Pull it out? Pull what out? What's going on? thought Harry. It just wasn't making any sense. None of this was making any sense.

"Reach out within," said the whispers.

Harry frowned again. He thought he was going crazy. But he decided to oblige the whispers and reached out within himself.

In other words he reached out to his core.

And he felt just like he had felt all those years ago when he first reached his magical core.

Absolute peace and serenity, he felt like he was floating in space and he gradually moving towards his core.

Slowly he stretched his arms and touched his core.

It was like an explosion of power. He was brought back to reality feeling more powerful than he had ever felt before.

If he had looked in the mirror he would have seen a silver ring forming around the pupil of his eyes and the instant they formed a full circle Harry exploded.

The flames never stood a chance. If the fire was a blazing inferno trying to consume Harry. Harry was simply the thing that could stamp it out with a flick of his finger.

Waves of snow, ice, water all mixed were blowing in every direction at incredible speed with Harry as the epicenter. The fire was extinguished in mere seconds but the blizzard that was Harry didn't stop.

He felt like he had never felt before. He wanted everything to be cold. The ground began to turn to ice and it began to snow everywhere.

If Harry had been listening closely he would have heard some yelling about the wards starting to crack, but he didn't.

His arms were spread wide as if embracing the cold and a smile on his face, his eyes closed.

He never heard the explosion signaling the fall of the wards. He never realized that Nicolas Flamel and his wife were barely managing to hold his element back and prevent it from destroying everything in range.

After 5 long minutes of fury, the winds began to die down and the snow stopped falling.

Harry opened his eyes and found everything to be blurry. He blinked twice and everything started spinning.

He noticed two figures approaching him slowly and he thought he recognized one of them.

"Who?" he slurred out and fell over in a dead faint.

Above him Nicolas looked at his wife and said. "I told you we should have at least warned them before deciding to test their endurance."

"It wouldn't be an endurance test if they knew it was an endurance test. You know as well as I do that this test was also to see how they react to a hostile environment."

"And they both performed admirably didn't they?"

"The girl certainly used her head. For someone who has never been any potentially dangerous or scary situations in her entire life, she certainly did extremely well."

Nicolas nodded. "And what do you think about him," he said, poking Harry with his foot.

"I don't know what to think of him. But I certainly want to know _what_ is he? I've never seen anything like it before!"

"I agree," said Nicolas. "He broke through wards which for centuries have been unbreakable."

Penny shook her head. "He didn't break them. He ripped through them."

Nicolas sighed. "So what now?"

"Let him rest and recover of course," she said. "Both kids are going to be furious when they wake up."

"I'm going to blame you if they try to burn and ice me," he muttered.

Penny laughed, pushing her grey hair behind her ear. "Take him to our infirmary Nick."


	32. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30 – Training**

Lillian woke up feeling quite disoriented. It took her a moment to adjust to the dimly lit room and realize she had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was looking at a red rose in the middle of a snow desert.

She looked around and noticed she was alone. There was a glass of water or what seemed to be water on the bedside table with a red rose beside it and a note stuck to the glass.

"Drink it," was all the note said.

"Like hell I'm going to drink something offered by him," she muttered thinking about the pain she wanted to inflict on Flamel.

The moment the words came out of the mouth the words on the note changed.

"If you don't, your head will start aching after a few minutes because of magical exhaustion."

She scoffed at the poor attempt to make her drink the water but a minute later she felt her head start aching.

The words changed again.

"And then you'll feel nauseous too."

She felt like puking too.

The words changed again.

"If you don't want to feel sick, drink the Potion. It will make you feel better."

She drank it in one gulp and gave a sigh of relief when the headache and nausea disappeared.

"Glad to see you decided to drink my potion," said Nicolas Flamel walking into the light. He was wearing a suit and for some reason had his grey hair pushed back giving him a very mafia look.

"You," growled Lillian. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't burn you to ground?"

"I can give you two," replied Flamel coolly. "One, you're magically exhausted and it will take you a day or two to recover and two, you're absolutely no match for me even at your full strength."

Lillian had no answer so she settled for glaring at him.

Flamel ignored it. "Are you hungry?" he asked her.

"No," she said, ignoring the hunger pangs.

Flamel smiled. "Well if you do make your way to the dining room. Penny and I will be waiting for you."

"Penny? That's your wife?"

"Yes. I'm sure she'd like to meet you."

"I rather not, if she's anything like you," she spat out.

Flamel gave a short laugh.

"Where's Potter?"

"Still asleep," replied the alchemist.

"Did you set a similar trail for him?"

"You knew it was a test?"

"Was he dumped in a fire storm like I was dumped in a blizzard?"

"You should know you passed."

"Who the hell are you!?" burst out Lillian all of a sudden.

"I believe the introductions were done quite some time back."

Lillian threw the glass beside her at him being incapable to use magic at the moment.

Nicolas simply moved aside avoiding it and it smashed into pieces upon contact with the wall.

"Who gave you the right to treat us the way you have!? What do you want from us!?" she screamed, breathing heavily.

Nicolas sighed. "When you're hungry met us in the dinning room," he said and walked out of the room.

Lillian felt her anger spike at the man's indifference.

"Bastard!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She collapsed on the bed feeling her head spin. She closed her eyes and took deep, slow breaths in an effort to clam down.

Lillian felt her stomach growl again and her anger dissipated. She looked at the door and wanted to go and eat but didn't want to give Flamel the satisfaction of obeying his order.

She stood motionless for a minute before changing her mind and headed out of the room.

"Bloody old man," she grumbled.

She stepped into a plain white well lit corridor. It was straight and about 2 meters wide. She looked up and saw _tube lights?_

Lillian was mystified. What kind of wizard had tube lights in his house!? She looked left and right and couldn't figure out which way to go.

Sighing she turned left. She truly couldn't understand what kind of game Flamel was trying to play here. Her footsteps kept echoing and there was no way to know where she was going. There were no paintings, no windows… nothing. It felt like walking in a high security wing like in the movies, she thought.

Sometime later, the corridor ended and there was a door at the end of it. She opened it hesitantly wondering what horrors might be behind it. Her mind was filled with images of mutilated bodies and rows of rooms filled with people being experimented on or torture chambers with all sorts of instruments with Flamel laughing evilly while holding them.

She was quite relieved and surprised to see Flamel and another woman sitting at opposite ends of a small table waiting for her.

"Ah, hello there," said Nicolas cheerfully. "I see it didn't take you long to come out of that smelly room."

Lillian frowned and cautiously edged into the room. The room wasn't too large nor was it too small. It had a fire place at one end with a few sofas and chairs. And at the other end there was a simple dining table with four chairs where the two Flamel's were sitting.

"Have a seat Lillian," said Perenelle Flamel.

"So you're his wife, huh?" asked Lillian, not moving from her place next to the door.

"That's right," she said with a smile. "I'm Perenelle Flamel. How are you feeling?"

"Why do you care?"

Perenelle glanced at Nicolas who just shrugged.

"We are not your enemies Lillian. But you should also know we are not your friends either."

"That is so reassuring," said Lillian sarcastically.

"What I am trying to say is, you and your friend Harry are here to train, not to enjoy the comforts of life. Leaving you to fend for yourself in an environment hostile to you was an important test for you both."

"Like hell it was! You could have at least warned us!"

"Then it would defeat the purpose of the test," said Perenelle simply. "The main idea behind the whole test was to see how you react and adapt when in shock and fear. And I can say both of you did very well."

"We could have died!" hissed Lillian but her argument had lost the intensity it had before.

"Do you think we would have let you die? We might have let you push your body to the brink of death but we wouldn't have let you die," she said.

Lillian just glared.

"Why don't you have something to eat," said Nicolas. "I know you're hungry. I can practically hear your stomach crying out for food."

Lillian glared at him too but slowly moved to the table and took a seat.

"Where's Potter?" she asked.

"He's still asleep," replied Nicolas. "He was quite exhausted at the end even more than what you might be feeling."

"I'm feeling fine," muttered Lillian grabbing a boiled egg and a toast and began smearing the toast with marmalade.

"What is this place?" asked Lillian. "It's so depressing. I haven't seen a single window since I've come here and the rooms and corridors are all lighted with muggle stuff!"

Nicolas smiled. "We believe in using everything this world has to offer. And this house is just a temporary place. You won't be staying here after today. Once Harry wakes up and has yelled and screamed just like you did. We'll be moving to a much more open location."

"Oh, well. I see," muttered Lillian. "So what's next?"

"You'll see," said Perenelle mysteriously.

"Oh great," said Lillian with a sigh. "Another torture session."

Suddenly a buzzing sound was heard.

"I guess Potter's awake then," said Nicolas. "Your turn to go eh Penny?"

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled and stood up and left.

"She's going to talk to Potter?"

"That's right," said Nicolas. "We always take turns doing everything," he said.

"Are we going to be training, like everyday?" asked Lillian slowly. "I mean, we have to spend more than a month here and you're going to be training us everyday?"

"Of course," said Nicolas like it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're going to wish you never knew us!"

"But why?"

"It's because you're elementals," he said with a grin, "And," his demeanor suddenly became scary and intimidating, "and because you're going to have to fight Lord Voldemort alongside Potter. You're going to fight with the most feared death eaters and you're going to need all the help you can get."

"And how would you know that?" she asked him, while slowly moving away from him.

"Did really think we would have decided to train you if you weren't important?"

"Am I important?"

"More than you know," he whispered.

Lillian looked at him feeling extremely uneasy and scared too. If he was trying to freak her out, he certainly was doing a good job of it.

* * *

Harry slowly came out of his dreamless sleep feeling like there was a boulder placed on his head. The last thing he remembered was feeling very alive. He remembered feeling that nothing could touch him and he was invincible before he lost consciousness.

His body was aching. He tried to move and pain shot through every bone in his body. Wincing he laid back trying to figure out where he was. He blinked twice and realized his vision was all hazy and his head was beginning to ache real bad.

He tried to get up again only to feel extremely dizzy and weak.

"Drink this," came a feminine voice beside him. He turned and tried to make out who it was but his vision was too blurry. All he could see was grey hair and knew it was an old woman from her voice.

"Drink," she said again, handing him a glass.

"What is it?" asked Harry hoarsely.

"Potion to get rid of the pain you're suffering right now and to bring back the vision in your eyes."

Harry tried to see what he was drinking but his eye sight and headache was worsening. So closing his eyes he drank the potion which was surprisingly tasteless. The headache immediately began to recede and his eyes sight was fully restored.

He took a good look at the woman in front of him. She was easily into her sixties and had long grey hair and eyes that sparkled with wisdom. It gave the same feeling when he looked into the eyes of Dumbledore.

"How are you feeling now?" the woman asked him.

"You're Nicolas Flamel's wife," stated Harry instead.

She smiled and nodded.

"Where is he?"

"I hope you don't try to pick a fight with dear Nick," she said in a fragile voice.

Harry scowled. "I'm going to make him wish he never met me," he growled.

Perenelle Flamel was silent for a moment before she started laughing.

Harry was perplexed. He didn't know what was so funny!

"Dear child," she said. "You couldn't even lay a scratch on Nicolas or me even if you tried your best."

"Are you sure about that," said Harry coldly.

Perenelle leaned towards him, her eyes narrowed. "Very sure," she whispered and Harry could feel Goosebumps run down his back. This was not a woman to mess around with he thought.

She leaned back, smiling again. "And you don't want to be using magic for a day or too," she said.

"Why?"

"You were physically, mentally and magically exhausted at the end of your obstacle course. If you try using magic, you're head will ache and you'll feel extremely dizzy."

"What happened by the way? At the end?" asked Harry. He couldn't figure out even exactly he had fainted and how had he gotten rid of the fire.

Perenelle frowned. "Your element was fully unleashed," she said. "I have never seen anything quite like it."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

The woman sighed. "The power behind your element was incredible. We thought you were at your limit when you were surrounded with that fire but instead you suddenly became a living breathing blizzard. Or it was rather like the force of a _hundred_ blizzards combined together."

"The wards which we placed around that area were shattered and it took the combined effort of Nick and me to keep your power at bay. You simply breezed through those wards like they weren't there," she said pointing a finger at him. "And those wards are practically unbreakable," she added.

Harry looked up, a slight grin on his face. "Too much power for you to handle?"

She smiled. "Hardly, you just caught us off guard that's all. Don't think you're powerful and all that because I could beat you with both my hands tied back."

Harry snorted. "You seem to think a lot of yourself. You look like a gust of wind would knock you over."

Perenelle chuckled. "You'd do well to remember that your life is in my hands as long as you're here. So mind your manners."

Harry yawned. "I can handle whatever you throw at me," he said. "If I can break through you supposedly unbreakable wards, let's see what more I can do. I'd probably defeat you with a flick of my finger."

Perenelle sighed. "Are you trying to test my patience? Because I must say, your attempts are quite pathetic. You say I think a lot of myself but you seem to have quite an inflated ego."

"Of course not," said Harry airily. "But I think if you had to resort to testing me without me knowing it and me still coming over the top, either I'm just strong or your test was pathetic."

Perenelle just stared at him incredulously. "Okay listen kid," she growled. "Either you shut your mouth right now and come with me or sit here until you beg me to give you something to eat."

"Lead the way, ma'am," he said bowing mockingly.

"Oh you're going to feel pain," she said icily and strode out.

Harry laughed. He had successfully riled her up. He felt that if they could subject him to any sort of test of training, he was well within his rights to insult and irritate them until he was satisfied.

He had to practically run to keep up with her. A fact which Perenelle took great pleasure in mentioning to Harry.

"Do keep up dear," she said. "Don't tell me this old woman is too fast for you?"

Harry growled. "My body is aching," he said.

Perenelle just laughed. "Don't give excuses Harry," she scolded. "Admit it that you're just too slow."

"Never in a million years," muttered Harry under his breath glaring at the woman's back.

"Ah here we are!" she said suddenly.

"Where is here?" asked Harry. "All I've seen till now is walls and more walls."

Perenelle grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him into the dining room.

"Bitch," muttered Harry earning a smack on his head. "Oww! What was that for!?"

"Sit down," she snapped.

Harry sat giving her dirty looks.

"Did I miss something?" asked Nicolas looking amused. Lillian looked at both Harry and Perenelle curiously while munching on her seventh piece of chicken leg.

"No Nicolas, you didn't," she said. "I just took a little time explaining what happened before Harry passed out. Like a light I might add," she said glaring at said boy.

"Uh oh," muttered Nicolas. "Looks like Harry and Penny got off to a bad start."

"What do you mean?" whispered Lillian.

"Harry said something to piss her off and that's not good at all."

"Nicolas!" called out Perenelle suddenly while Harry helped himself to all the food in front of him.

"What?"

"Do you mind if I take over Harry's training?"

Harry choked on his potatoes.

"I thought you wanted to train the fire elemental?" asked Nicolas.

Perenelle glared at Harry and said, "I changed my mind. You train the fire elemental and I'll take care of the water."

"Its water and ice," said Harry politely. "Do your research properly before trying to train a person would you."

Perenelle ignored him though a vein twitched on her forehead.

"What do you say Nick?" she asked, her voice taking a menacing edge.

Nicolas sighed. "He's all yours Penny," he said regretfully, thinking of the number of times he'd have to patch the boy up now.

"What kind of training are you going to start with?" asked Harry.

Perenelle smiled evilly. "You'll see," she said and began to eat her salad.

Harry looked at her warily wondering if it was a good idea to try and test her patience.

"Oh boy am I full!" said Lillian leaning back, patting her stomach.

"Freckles! How come I didn't notice you?" said Harry.

"I don't know how your vision works Potter," she said tiredly.

"Hmmm… right. I suppose you had to go through the same silly test as I did?"

Lillian nodded slowly wondering what he meant by silly test.

"You know, Mrs. Flamel is quite useless at putting up unbreakable wards," he whispered to her which was easily overheard by both Flamel's.

"Err… what do you mean? She asked, glancing at said woman who hadn't reacted.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Apparently she put up unbreakable wards to keep us contained if we lost control of our element but when I lost control the wards just blew apart."

"That's… great?"

"Don't you think it's quite pathetic? I mean, she's supposed to train me but can't even put up decent wards!"

Lillian just nodded glancing at both Flamel's again. Nicolas looked extremely amused while Penny was still eating her salad emotionlessly but it was clear that her temper was on the rise.

"Potter, maybe you should stop talking now," she whispered.

Harry ignored her. "And she's quite ugly too. I mean look at that hair! It looks like a bird nest on her head and her skin! Look at the way it sags! Maybe she ought to have plastic surgery or something."

Lillian was looking horrified and Penny seemed ready to kill Harry when Nicolas quickly stood up and all eyes turned to him.

"I guess we're all done," he said clapping his hands. "Why don't we take you home and show you your new rooms?"

"We aren't staying here?" asked Harry.

"No we're not," he replied. "What do you think Penny? Let's go?"

"Yeah sure," she said indifferently. "We can start training too."

Nicolas looked worried. "Err… I thought we weren't going to start until tomorrow?"

"Oh, It'll be like an introductory lesson for dear Harry," she said with a smile.

"Right," said Nicolas skeptically.

He pulled out his wand and muttered Portus pointing his hand at the goblet in front of him.

The goblet glowed blue before returning to its original color, plain silver.

Nicolas took the portkey and stood beside Penny, who placed a finger on it.

"Come on you two," he said, beckoning the two elementals over.

Harry and Lillian eyed the goblet warily. "This isn't some other test is it?" asked Lillian.

"No, you both cannot use magic for at least a day or two so no tests until then," he said.

Both placed a finger on the portkey not really believing the man. They felt a jerk beneath their navel and were pulled into vortex of color. A few seconds later they landed hard on the ground and miraculously both Harry and Lillian managed to stay on their feet.

They shielded their eyes at the sudden brightness that assaulted them.

Lillian gasped at the sight of the Flamel's home. It was a two storey tall building made entirely of steel!

It looked more like a huge vault in the form of a house. There was a lake in front of the house and apart from that it was just a vast open land with a number of tree's here and there.

"Is that a house made from steel?" said Harry.

"That house young Harry, is not made out of steel but gold," said Nicolas.

Harry and Lillian whipped their heads towards the alchemist.

"Gold!?" they both cried out together.

"Yes, gold," said Flamel calmly.

"But it looks like steel!"

"A temporary illusion," said Perenelle, "Let's walk closer and you might change your mind."

Sure enough, as they grew closer to the house, the color changed from normal metallic to bright gold.

"Where did you get all the gold from," said Lillian her voice filled with amazement and awe.

"The philosopher's stone," muttered Harry. "It produces the elixir of life and can change metal to gold."

"Unreal," whispered Lillian.

"But why build a house of gold?" asked Harry.

"Because we can," replied Nicolas. "What's the point of having all the gold you can possibly get if you don't use it in every way possible?"

"You could sell it," said Harry.

"We have enough money and you forget that the world thinks the stone is destroyed and we are dead."

"So? You could have built this house before the stone was destroyed."

"Our last known address was Paris," replied Nicolas. "You are the only ones who are going to see this house and we are going to make you swear an oath that you will not talk about what you did and where you were from today onwards until you get back to Hogwarts."

"An oath!?"

"Yes, an oath," said Nicolas calmly.

"Why?"

"To protect my wife and I," he said simply.

"And where are we anyway?" asked Harry.

Nicolas smiled. "Don't worry about that. All you need to worry about is food, water and training."

"Yeah," muttered Lillian. "Training."

They reached the house and could help but stare. It was really beautiful. The gold walls were glittering in the sun light giving them a majestic sight.

There was a single door facing the lake made of wood.

"Welcome to our home," said Nicolas smiling.

Harry and Lillian didn't respond. They were too busy admiring the beauty of the house, both outside and inside.

The interior of the house was a decorated to give it a very cozy and homely feel to it. The only thing that made them gasp in surprise was the sight of a huge flat screen television and the presence of very hi tech equipment known to muggles.

"What the hell?" said Lillian.

"I told we like to keep ourselves up to date," said Nicolas with an amused expression.

"You call this up to date!?" said Lillian. "This is awesome!"

"Thank you Lillian," said Perenelle.

"Is all this stuff in our rooms too?" asked Harry.

"No," said Nicolas. "And there are no rooms. There is only one room."

"WHAT!?" shouted Harry and Lillian.

"Just kidding," said Nicolas laughing. "Just wanted to see your expressions."

"Next time try imagining," grumbled Harry. "I nearly had a heart attack."

"Get one and die Potter," said Lillian.

Harry ignored her pointedly making her go red in anger.

"Come one let me show you your rooms," said Nicolas.

Both thirteen year olds followed the old alchemist up the stairs. There were various different portraits hanging on the wall while on their way up with a few pictures of both Flamel's in different places. Like there was one of them standing next to a pyramid, another of them on a boat next to some huge water fall, another very weird one of them was in some deserted alley with dilapidated buildings in the background.

They reached the first floor landing and headed down the corridor.

"Alright, four rooms on this floor. These two are yours," he said pointing to two doors opposite each other. "You can choose whichever room you want. Bathroom is at the end of the corridor."

Both Lillian and Harry grimaced upon hearing there was only one bathroom.

Nicolas opened the door to one of the rooms and led them in.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Harry simply spluttered and then shouted. "It's pink!"

He was right. Everything in the room was pink. From the walls to the bed to the carpet on the floor, the windows, everything was pink. The bedcovers were frilled giving them a very girly look.

"Ah," said Nicolas with a smile. "This might be Penny's doing."

Harry turned red. "I am NOT sleeping here!"

"Me too," said Lillian looking appalled. "If the other room is anything like this I'd rather sleep downstairs with the cool home theatre system."

Nicolas shrugged. "If you want to sleep. This is the only place you got. You can sleep here or in the bathroom but no where else."

"We can use magic here, right?" asked Lillian.

"Yes, but I doubt you'll be able to undo whatever spell Penny has put. She does have more than a thousand years experience after all."

Harry just mumbled something inaudible.

Nicolas was sure it was nothing nice.

"Well, that's, that. Freshen up now. Penny wants you down as soon as you're done Harry," he said.

"What for?" asked Harry.

Nicolas smiled. "You'll see," he said and simply flickered out of view.

Harry just rolled his eyes and muttered, "Show off." He looked at his right hand and observed the sign of the hallows. He wondered if he could summon his wand. He closed his eyes and willed his wand to appear but instead a sudden sharp pain erupted in his head.

"Bad idea," he said wincing. Glancing around the room disgustedly, he decided to check out Lillian's room.

Lillian meanwhile had opened the other room and found it to be perfectly normal. There was no pink at all. It had a white wall, with a brown carpet covering the entire floor and a queen size bed in the center. There was a huge window overlooking the lake and Lillian was most happy with the room. She couldn't wait to see the look on Potter's face when he realized he was stuck with the pink room!

"Hey Potter!" she yelled out. "You can keep that room!"

Harry came out and entered a room and gasped in horror.

"You cannot get this room!" he cried out.

"I can, I just did. Look on the door. My name's engraved on it too," he said with a delighted laugh.

"I can simply throw you out and take over this room Freckles."

Lillian stuck out her tongue. "We can't use magic for a day so you can't do anything!"

Harry simply growled and ran forward and grabbed her by the hip and tried to drag her out.

"Nooo!" shouted Lillian and kicked out hard hitting him on the shin.

"Ouch god dammit! I am not sleeping in a bloody pink room!" he said and dived and grabbed her by the ankles making her fall and tried pulling her out.

"Let me go asshole!" she yelled while being dragged on her back.

Somehow she managed to sit up while being dragged and grab Harry's ankle and trip him.

Harry fell and Lillian immediately pounced on him.

Harry's eyes widened on seeing her jump and quickly rolled out of the way panting and jumped on her back pinning her on the floor. She tried waving her arms in an effort to hit him but Harry quickly caught hold of them and held them behind her back tightly.

"Give up?" he asked smugly.

"Never," breathed Lillian trying her best to break free of his grip.

She tried hitting him with her legs but Harry simply put his legs above them preventing her from moving them.

It was a very funny sight. Harry had his knees on her butt. Both his legs were on her legs and his hands holding her hands behind her back. Her cheek was pressed against the floor and she eyes were alive with fury.

"Argh!" cried out Lillian in anger. "Get off me Potter! You practically weigh a ton!"

"Not until you agree to change rooms!"

"My butt hurts dammit!"

"Like I care."

"Get off!"

"NO!"

Lillian closed her eyes and stopped struggling.

"Give up?" asked Harry.

And then all of a sudden, she began squirming and twisting and Harry almost let her free but managed to hold firm.

"Just agree to change rooms Freckles and I'll let you go."

An idea struck Lillian.

"Hey Potter," she said coolly.

"What?"

"GET OFF!" she yelled and pushed her butt up throwing Harry off balance. It was a like she was a bull trying to get rid of the rider.

Harry fell sideways surprised and let her go. Lillian immediately scrambled up and began kicking him.

"You jerk! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said furiously.

Harry winced when he felt her leg hit his thigh just missing his jewels.

Lillian again aimed for his leg but Harry caught hold of her leg swiftly and shoved it back making her fall hard.

Both quickly got back on their feet before either could attack.

They stood three feet apart panting and glaring at each other waiting for one of them to make a move.

"Are you crazy Potter!?"

"There is no way in hell I am going to be living in that room! You're a girl; you stay there and let me stay here!"

"No way, I hate pink and you should have checked out this room before assuming both the rooms were the same."

"Dammit Freckles!" said Harry and lunged for her again. He grabbed her around her shoulders and began pulling her towards the door again.

"Let. Me. GO!" she screamed, struggling to get free.

She tried tripping him and resisting his pull but it didn't do much good apart from giving him a few scratches and bruises.

Wincing Harry reached the door and almost managed to throw her out when Lillian jabbed her elbow backwards hitting him on the chin. Harry let go and cried out in pain rubbing his jaws.

Lillian yelled in triumph and shoved him out of the room and slammed the door shut.

"Loser!" she yelled.

She let out a sigh of relief and began laughing. "You lost to a girl, Potter!" she yelled out again and began straightening her clothes. They had gotten terribly rumpled and crumpled during her fight.

Outside Harry was ready to explode in anger. His leg hurt, his jaws were aching and worst of all he had been beaten by a girl.

"This isn't over Freckles," he shouted.

"It is so!" she yelled back.

"It is not," muttered Harry, a plan forming in his mind. He unwillingly entered his pink room. Sighing he opened the cupboard and found that it was filled with clothes of his size. The Flamel's had left no stone unturned, he thought.

He chose a black track pant and a grey shirt and a towel and headed to the bathroom. He'd suffer for a day and when his magic was back Lillian would suffer.

Entering the bathroom he turned on the tap and let the cold water loose. He checked to see if there was any way to regulate the temperature and found a dial beside the bathtub. He turned it all the way to its minimum. His whole body ached. Lillian was surprisingly strong he thought grudgingly. With a sigh he lowered himself into the bathtub feeling extremely relieved and relaxed.

Lillian meanwhile collapsed on her new bed. Her butt was really hurting now after all the abuse it had just endured. Potter had put his full weight on it and she must have fallen hard on her butt once or twice. The rest of her body hurt too. All that struggling was really taxing.

She began laughing again remembering the look on Potter's face when he saw her room.

"What about clothes?" she thought suddenly. She certainly couldn't wear the same thing everyday!

With that thought in mind she quickly went to the cupboard and yanked it open. She gasped in surprise at the amount of clothes and varieties in there. There were skirts, jeans, tights, spaghetti's, t-shirts, shirts, undergarments, party wear... you name it.

Her eyes glowing with excitement she wondered what to wear. She began removing all the clothes and checking what looked good with what and which would suit her best.

It took her twenty minutes just to select a skirt and spaghetti. She collected the clothes and a towel and made her way out of the room before a terrible thought struck her.

What if she went for a bath and Potter high jacked her room!?

She bit her lower lip wondering what to do and it didn't take long. Dumping the clothes she selected on the bed, she hurried back to the cupboard and starting removing all the underwear's and began throwing the randomly. Two minutes later she looked at her handiwork. There was no way he could enter the room without having to touch her underwear's. And if he was like any other guy of his age, he wouldn't dare touch them. She mentally thanked the Flamel's for providing such a large quantity of clothes and left the room.

She hung another underwear on the door handle for good measure. Satisfied she headed to the bathroom only to find it locked.

"Potter are you in there!?" she said exasperatedly.

"Yup," a lazy voice said.

"Well get out! I need to go in."

There was no answer.

"How long are you going to take?"

Again silence.

"I'll break the door down Potter," she threatened.

"Shut it Freckles, I'm relaxing," came Harry's voice.

With a frustrated sigh she sat down beside the door and waited. She knew this was going to be an everyday affair. The war had begun.

Fifteen minutes later Harry came out looking as cool as a cucumber. He had been in for about an hour.

"It's all yours Freckles," he said cheerfully.

"And you better not enter my room Potter," she said and slammed the door shut.

As soon as the door shut Harry ran towards Lillian's room but his hand froze above the handle.

A pink frilly underwear was hanging on the door handle. Harry turned red. His hand kept inching close and then backed it away.

Finally he decided against touching the disgusting pink underwear. "You win this round Freckles," he muttered and went downstairs, his shoulders slouched in defeat. But he had to admit that putting the underwear on the handle was a master stroke.

"Ah, you're finally down!" said Nicolas. "Perenelle has been waiting for quite some time now."

"Waiting for me?" asked Harry.

"For your introductory lesson remember?"

"Oh, yeah, so where is she?"

"Sit down and have some biscuits," he said. "She'll be here in a minute."

Harry sat. "Why did you lie?"

Nicolas frowned. "Lie about what?"

"The rooms! The other one was perfectly fine!"

"Both the rooms are the same Harry," said Perenelle entering the room. "It's only the decorations that are different."

Harry glared at her.

"Where's Lillian?" asked Nicolas.

"Bathing," replied Harry shortly.

"Well come on then," said Perenelle.

"For what?" asked Harry wearily.

"Training," she said cheerfully, tying her hair into a bun.

"What kind of training?" asked Harry, not moving from his place.

"Move it boy," she said sternly. "Either you do what I tell you to do or you can leave and learn nothing.

Harry got up slowly.

"Good. Now follow me," she said. She led him towards the kitchen and through the back door.

Harry followed.

Outside it was just an endless sea of grass and trees. It was like a green carpet spread out as far as a person's eyes could see.

There was a nice breeze blowing and going by the position of the sun Harry figured it was around one in the afternoon.

"So what are we doing?" asked Harry.

"Run," said Perenelle.

"Run?"

"Run unless I tell you to stop. I don't want to hear any arguments. As of now, you're the student and I'm your boss, teacher, etcetera, etcetera."

"Any particular direction?" he asked her.

"Let's see how far away from the house you can go."

So Harry began to run. He ran fast for at least a minute and then slowed down and began to jog at a steady pace.

Five minutes later he began to pant and another ten minutes later he could feel the sweat dripping from his face like a tap left half open.

"How long do I have to keep going?" he asked perenelle in short gasps.

Perenelle was floating beside him on a broom watching him lazily.

"Are you tired already?" she said. "You haven't even gone more than two kilometers away!"

Harry stopped and put his hands on his thighs. He looked up at Perenelle, his face sweaty and red.

"Two!? That's it?"

"That's right."

"It feels like ten."

"That shows what stamina you have," she said grimly. "Basically you have none. It's hardly been more than ten minutes and you're already tired."

"I'd like to see you doing it," he snapped.

Perenelle got of the broom and drew her wand. "Dodge," she said simply and fired a stunner at him.

Harry jumped out of the way. "What are you doing!?" he yelled and dived to his left as another stunner came towards him.

"Come on dodge," she said again. "Let's see those Quidditch reflexes."

She sent two stunners towards him as soon as Harry dived left. Harry was forced to stop himself and dive to the right.

This time she sent three stunners in succession one straight at him and the other two to his left and right.

Harry panicked, unable to decide which side to go was hit by the stunner.

Perenelle sighed and revived him.

Harry awoke groggily.

"Stand," she snapped.

Harry slowly pushed himself up feeling disoriented.

"Tell me Harry, why are you here?"

"Because I can't go back to Hogwarts?"

"No, because you want to train yourself to be good enough to fight grown trained wizards. Because you're an elemental and because you're going to have to face Voldemort himself."

"Yeah," replied Harry dumbly.

"I made you run to see how long you could stay standing in a duel. I made you dodge to see how effectively you could avoid lethal spells which can't be blocked."

"So how'd I do?"

"Terribly," replied Perenelle. "Right now you wouldn't even last a minute in a duel against a well trained wizard."

"Hey, I'm just thirteen! Not thirty."

"You're a thirteen year old wizard who practically has the burden of the world on him," she said harshly. "Maybe you're every good at learning and casting spells."

She walked closer to him. "But what is the point if you physically can't endure?" she whispered.

Harry didn't answer.

"Most wizards simply focus on learning very hard spells and charms and enchantments. But in a duel you must utilize every weapon at your disposal. If you loose you're wand you need to be fast enough to avoid the spells your opponent sends at you. You need to use your surroundings effectively to gain the advantage over him or her."

"What about runes?" asked Harry suddenly "Can they be used in a duel?"

"Of course, but it will take too long to do so. And there are too many disadvantages. You need to position them correctly, you need to say the required words and some complicated runes require you to stay still. Using runes is useless in battle unless you have a team with you. And even then it is hard because you're team mates will be more worried about protecting you rather then fighting. And even worse, you'll need to position your opponent in a particular spot which is impossible unless your enemy is an idiot."

"So using runic magic is not advisable," he said dryly.

"That's right," she said and suddenly threw three stunners at him.

This time Harry was ready and he ducked, letting the stunner pass above him.

He was so pleased that he missed the one she had sent close to the ground and was stunned again.

"Ennervate," said Perenelle with a sigh.

"Do you want me to point out your mistake?"

"I celebrated too early didn't I?"

"You did."

Harry sighed and stood straight. "Okay, I'm ready," he said looking determined.

Penny smiled. "That's more like it," she said and started of with a single stunner which Harry easily dodged. Immediately she sent three followed by a one close to the ground.

Harry managed to duck under the three but fell to the fourth before he could get out of the way.

Penny revived him again. "Again," she said as soon as Harry recovered.

This time Harry didn't duck when she sent the three stunners. Instead he positioned himself in such a way that he was between two of them and let them pass between him. He then managed to jump over the low stunner. He saw another one right behind it targeted at his midriff and stepped aside to avoid it but unfortunately he didn't see the one beside the one he side stepped and was hit again.

When revived he saw Perenelle smiling.

"What did you learn?" she asked.

Harry rubbed his forehead. "Whatever you're trying to teach me," he said tiredly. His head was beginning to ache because of the constant stunning.

"Don't get smart with me kid," she said narrowing her eyes. "But what you should have realized is jumping and diving around like a frog is useless."

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"You are such a moron!"

Harry glared at her.

"Alright, I'll tell you what your puny brain could not process."

"And what is that?"

"Keep you're eyes focused. Jumping around will make you loose focus. Instead do exactly what you did when I sent the three stunners together. _Weave_ through them!" she said gesturing with her hands. "Watch carefully and side step the curses! Look for tiny gaps and avoid them accurately!"

Harry nodded, processing every thing she said.

"Again!" she shouted raising her wand.

This time she sent two back to back curses in the same line but different levels which Harry easily dodged. Another soon followed right beside it and Harry moved back into his original position as soon as the other two passed.

He saw another coming his way and noticed Perenelle fire two more, no four more. One was to his left and the other to his right and when he moved in between the two to let them pass beside him the other two came crashing into him sending him flying back. They weren't stunners, they were punching hexes and Harry lay prostrate on the ground, groaning in pain.

Penny sighed. "Look's like the end of today's training," she muttered.

Harry tried to get up but Penny stopped him.

"Don't move," she said sharply, moving next to him. "Getting hit by two consecutive punching hexes could give you a concussion and added to that you have been hit more than four to five stunners before that."

"My head hurts," groaned Harry.

Penny pushed him back and made him lie down. "You're head hurts because you fell on it."

"Easy for you to say," muttered Harry.

"It is, isn't it?" she said grinning. "I told you you'll be feeling pain."

Harry looked resigned.

"I bet you're thinking, if only I didn't try to antagonize her," she said.

"No, I'm thinking of ways to torture you when I can use my magic without any problems."

Penny rolled her eyes and summoned her broom. "Get on," she said.

Harry looked at the broom and then looked at her. "I'm not sitting behind you, you probably stink!"

"Stupefy," she said with a sigh and shoved him onto the broom. "Bloody idiot," she said and flew further away from the house.

When the house was like a speck in the distance she stopped, dropped Harry down and woke him.

"Whaa…" began Harry groggily. "Why did you stun me?"

"What have we done for the past hour?"

Harry shrugged. "Dodging and running."

Penny smiled. It was a sinister smile, thought Harry.

"Training's over for now," she said.

"Sooo, why are we here?" he asked looking confused. The house was merely a golden speck far away and they were surrounded by trees.

"Come back Harry," she said and flew back.

"What! WAIT!" he shouted scrambling up.

"Stamina training Harry, stamina training," she said rising in the air.

"Stamina training!?" cried incredulously. "Who makes someone run miles and call it stamina training!?"

He didn't receive any answer. Penny just waved back and flew away.

Harry looked on feeling outraged.

"BITCH!"

* * *

Lillian was extremely pleased. Her idea had worked like a charm and Harry hadn't entered her room.

She went downstairs and found Nicolas sleeping.

She quietly tiptoed around him and pulled the remote out of his hand. It had been ages since she had seen a good television show.

She turned in on and VH-1 blaring at full volume.

Wincing, she quickly reduced the volume before the remote was wrenched from her hand and the television turned off.

"Can't you let an old man sleep in peace," grumbled Nicolas.

"Sorry," she said looking guilty.

"Ah, don't look all guilty and all. You'll make me go all soft."

Lillian giggled.

"Well sit down," he said gesturing to the chair in front of him. "How did you like your room?"

Lillian grinned. "It's great. How did you know my dress size and everything?"

"Oh, that was Penny. She set up everything. The clothes, the rooms, the _color_ of the rooms, the house, the location, basically everything."

"And what were you doing?"

"I was busy doing something else," he said cryptically. "Enough discussion about that. Let's discuss you."

"Discuss me?"

"What was your routine in Hogwarts?"

Lillian raised an eyebrow. "Well, get up in the morning, have breakfast, go to class, spend time in the common room and then sleep."

Nicolas frowned, obviously displeased.

"What position do you place yourself in class?"

"Donno," she said with a shrug.

Nicolas sighed. "What classes are you good at?"

"Well I'm decent at everything. I would have liked potions best if it weren't for that old bat, defense I can't say because we've never had a teacher who actually taught us anything, charms I pretty much catch on quick enough and transfiguration is my weakest but I'm working on it."

"So, potions, charms, transfiguration and defense are the order."

"Pretty much," she said with a nod.

"Have you ever practiced any of the spells in your defense text books?" he asked.

"Of course, we had a small dueling club in our second year and I looked up quite a few spells. But they were all useless. I usually spend my time practicing transfiguration and my elemental ability."

Nicolas nodded and looked deep in thought.

"Well," he said finally clapping his hands. "Let me lay down the rules."

"We have rules?"

"Of course you do! Firstly you do exactly what I tell you to do, second- no entering rooms which have a skull on them, and thirdly," said dramatically raising his hands. "Just make sure you follow rule number 1 and 2."

Lillian's shoulders sagged, "Lame," she muttered.

"Harry and Penny have gone off for a light round of training. Do you want to start today?"

"What kind of training are they doing if Potter can't use magic?" she asked.

"Well, I guess she'll be making him run or do some sort of exercise."

"Oh," replied Lillian nodding. "Yeah, okay."

Nicolas smiled. "So shall we do something productive or shall we watch a movie?"

Lillian seemed to be struggling with herself. But in the end her logical side won. "Let's train," she said regretfully.

"Excellent!" said Nicolas. "But you're wearing a skirt and a… sleeveless _top_ , which is not good for what I have in mind."

"Do you want me to change?"

"No, just go and wear some tights or something."

"Tights?"

"And I hope you're wearing a bra or what do you call them trainers... well, you know what I mean," he said uncomfortably.

Lillian turned red.

"Will do," she said slowly and quickly hurried upstairs and came back within a minute.

"You ready?" asked Flamel.

"Absolutely," she said enthusiastically.

Nicolas nodded and led her out the front door. They walked to the edge of the lake when Nicolas pulled out his wand and conjured a boat.

"We're going for a boat ride?" she asked, looking confused.

"Do you know how to swim Lillian?"

She nodded, "My dad taught me when I was six."

"Good," said Nicolas and pointed his wand at her.

Lillian immediately tensed. "What are you doing," she said, her heart rate accelerating.

Nicolas simply waved his wand and she flew into the lake with a scream. Nicolas laughed and got into the boat and moved the boat with magic towards Lillian who was bobbing around looking furious.

"What the hell!?" she cried, spitting water out of her mouth.

"Swim Lillian," he said a grin forming on his old face. "Swim as fast as you can to the other end."

Lillian looked at the other end which was quite far and then looked back at the alchemist.

"Okay," she said pushing her hair back. "Could you at least provide me with something to tie my hair back?"

Nicolas snapped his fingers and her hair was suddenly in a pony.

"Go," he said.

"Okay, let's go Mary," she said taking a deep breath and began to swim as fast as she could.

Nicolas kept up with her watching her carefully. Lillian kept swimming at a steady pace for a good ten minutes before she began to tire.

"Are you tired?" asked Nicolas.

Lillian didn't stop but did manage to spit out a 'no' before her head went back underwater.

Three minutes later she stopped and said, "Okay, yes. I'm tired."

Nicolas had a satisfied smirk on his face. He held out his hand and pulled her into the boat.

Lillian simply lay flat on her back trying to catch her breath.

"I must say, I'm impressed you managed to swim for a good fifteen minutes."

"I could have gone longer if you had told me to wear a swim suit," she snapped.

"Where would be the fun in that!?"

Lillian lifted her head and looked at him like he was crazy. "Do you have any idea how heavy these clothes felt!?"

"Oh, come on kid. You're wearing just a skirt and a sleeveless top! How heavy could that be?"

"It's called a spaghetti."

"What's called a spaghetti?"

"The top!" she said exasperatedly.

Nicolas rolled his eyes. "Now only women would name their clothes after food."

She sat up and looked at him narrowing her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it's supposed to mean," he said. "I've been with Penny for more than a thousand years and I still can't understand her at times!"

"Let's just get back to why you made me swim shall we."

"To test your stamina," he said promptly. "It's very important and I must say you have quite a decent stamina. But not good enough."

"What's good enough for you?"

"You'll see what's good enough for me at the end of your stay here.

So are you ready for the next step?"

"Next step!?" exclaimed Lillian. "I'm exhausted!"

"Oh it's not that tiring at all," said Nicolas turning the boat around. "I think you'll like it."

"I don't think I'm going to like it," muttered Lillian.

Nicolas tapped the boat twice with his wand and it suddenly took off into the air and flew to the house and stopped near the back door.

Both of them got off and the boat vanished.

At the same time Penny reached the house too and dismounted.

Nicolas frowned, "Where's Harry?"

Penny pointed away from the house and both Lillian and Nicolas put the hands above their eyes and tried to spot Harry.

"Can't see him," said Lillian.

"Me neither," added Nicolas.

"I told him to walk or run back so maybe you'll be able to see him in an hour or more," she said. "I'm going to rest Nick. These old bones can't keep up with all this activity."

"I'll be joining you in a minute," said Nicolas. "Just going to give Lillian here a job to do."

Penny nodded and walked into the house.

"What are we doing here?"

Nicolas reached within his pockets and pulled out a remote. He pressed a button and the wall beside the back door suddenly began to rise.

"This is my garage," he said walking inside.

It was huge and filled with cars. Aston Martins, Audi's, Ferrari's, Rolls Royce, Convertibles, it was all there and Lillian could only look on in awe.

"You're job is to make sure each and every one of these twenty cars are shining," he said.

Lillian snapped out of her trance. "Excuse me!?"

"The pipe for water is outside along with a bucket, a cloth and car soap."

"You want me to wash all the cars!? What for?"

"Because I feel like it. Now get to work."

"I'm not doing it!"

Nicolas sighed. "Lillian, Lillian, Lillian," he said in a sing song voice. "If you don't do it, you don't get to enter the house and you get no food! So Get. To. Work!"

Lillian dragged her feet outside and grabbed the hose and attached it to the tap.

"That's a good girl," said Nicolas and shimmered out of view.

So Lillian got to work. Cleaning and polishing each and every one of those amazing vehicles.

She was viciously wiping car number nine, which was a Porsche when she saw Harry walking like a zombie towards the house.

He seemed to be dragging his feet forwards, his shirt drenched in sweat. His eyes lit up in relief when he realized he had finally reached the house.

He saw the garage and despite his state of tiredness he decided to investigate and was surprised to see Lillian there... washing a Porsche?

"Hey Potter, you look fresh."

Harry looked at her then looked at the hose and then walked over to her and snatched the hose out of her hands.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Harry then pointed the hose at himself and poured water all over himself.

"That feels so good," he said with a sigh, feeling the water seep into his clothes.

Lillian looked at Harry grinning. "What are you doing Potter?"

"Shut up Freckles," he said and sat down on the ground, keeping the hose above his head.

"Oh for god's sake," said Lillian and snatched the hose back from Harry. "Lie down," she said.

Harry being in no mood to argue laid down.

Lillian then began spraying water on Harry who closed his eyes enjoying the feeling.

"So what did Perenelle make you do?" she asked him, leaning on the car.

"She made me run, then made me dodge stunning curses and then hit me with punching hexes, then stunned me again and dumped me at least 5 miles away from the house and told to come back myself."

Lillian winced. "That sucks."

"Tell me about it," replied Harry. "I don't think I've ever done this much running before. Did you train with the old man?"

"Kind of," she said. "He made me swim in the lake and now my job is to wash all these cars."

Harry opened his eyes and looked around. "They look good."

"Look good!?" said Lillian incredulously. "Potter, people would die to own these cars!"

"They serve the same purpose," said Harry.

Lillian simply shook her head. "Maybe when you sit in one of them and drive them you'll realize their worth."

Harry simply rolled his eyes.

"Tell me something Freckles, how did you feel when you were swimming?" asked Harry suddenly.

Lillian frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Did you feel nice swimming or did you feel kind of uncomfortable?"

"Now that you mention it," she said slowly, "I did feel kind of nauseous and sick, but I didn't think much on it because I had to swim real fast."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "And Penny made me run in the sun. Something I hate doing."

Lillian's eyes widened in dawning comprehension.

"This was similar to our first test," she said. "But on a much lesser scale."

"Not only that. Penny told me she wanted us to increase our stamina. And making me run in hot weather and you in water makes us weak. But if we manage to sustain ourselves for long periods in those conditions, then we'd be much more efficient in normal conditions."

Lillian gave a low whistle. "They might be unorthodox but they certainly know what they're doing."

Harry nodded.

"Do you want me to stop pouring water on you?" she asked suddenly. "I really got to get this done."

"Washing cars?"

"Ya," she replied with a sigh.

"I'll help you," said Harry surprising her.

"You want to help me?" she asked stunned.

"Yes," said Harry. "There seem to be a lot of cars left and I figured you need some help, unless you don't want it."

"No, of course I want help," she said looking confused. "But coming from _you_ , it's a little unusual."

Harry smiled and got up feeling much better. "Call it a change of heart," he said tearing the cloth into two.

That said and Lillian still looking suspicious Harry began wiping the Porsche.

Slowly Lillian began to work as well while keeping an eye on Harry waiting for him to do something out of the ordinary but it never happened and soon they were chatting and arguing good naturedly.

When they were on the last car Harry looked at Lillian who was spraying water over the car and he felt weird whooping sensation in his stomach.

"What?" asked Lillian with a laugh and he realized he had been staring.

"Nothing," he said quickly wondering what had just happened.

Another ten minutes later the final car was done.

"Finished!" said Lillian victoriously and they exchanged a high five.

Harry looked out and saw that it was already dark outside. No wonder he was feeling so hungry.

"Thanks Harry," said Lillian sincerely.

"You're welcome. Now lets get in, my stomach is practically crying for food."

While going back Harry wondered how the rest of the month was going to go past. He had been almost killed and was now exhausted and it had all happened in less than thirty hours. He shuddered to think what could happen in a month.

But he knew… he knew that at the end of the day, he would be stronger than he ever knew.


	33. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31 – Pathways**

It was around eight by the time Harry and Lillian had washed up and dragged their tired bodies for dinner.

"Hello there," said Nicolas cheerfully spotting the two teens.

"Hello yourself," mumbled Lillian as she took a seat.

"So how was your day?" asked Perenelle innocently.

Harry, refusing to allow the old woman to have fun at his expense did not show any visible reaction but answered anyway. "Different."

Penny was surprised, "What! No smart ass answer? Just _different!?"_

Harry nodded tiredly.

Penny looked satisfied. "Well eat up then. We'll talk after you two are done."

About twenty minutes later they were done and Nicolas beckoned them into the living room.

For once Harry felt the alchemist was being nice and purposely guided Harry to the chair next to the window and Lillian next to the fire place.

They sat there for about fifteen minutes enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Penny and Nicolas were sitting on the couch in the middle of the room, Lillian was close to them enjoying the heat coming from the fire and Harry was relishing the feel of the cool breeze on his face.

Nicolas was the first to break the silence.

"You should know today's training is nothing compared to what you two are going to endure for the next thirty days," he said.

Harry glanced at him wearily.

"I thought so," muttered Lillian glumly.

"Oh, don't look so gloomy," said Penny. "After all at the end of the day you might just be able to fight us!"

Harry sighed. "What's with you and you gloating about your strength?" he asked her.

She simply raised an eyebrow. "I think that's exactly what you were doing earlier weren't you?"

"That was then, this is now," said Harry.

"Act your age, Penny," said Nicolas good naturedly.

Penny just rolled her eyes.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" asked Lillian.

"Pretty much the same thing," said Nicolas.

"More running!" groaned Harry.

"You can add more dodging and targeting too," she Penny.

"Targeting?"

"To make your aim perfect," she replied.

"And what about me?" asked Lillian.

"A variation of what Harry's going to do," said Nicolas.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You'll see," said Nick mysteriously. "So do you kids have any questions to ask? You've had _quite_ the day, lots of unexpected things happening and I'm sure you might be having _some_ questions."

"I got one," said Harry.

Nick gestured for him to continue.

"If the Perenelle and you are so powerful, why don't you just finish the dark lord once and for all?"

Nicolas laughed and said, "Why in gods name would I want to attract the wrath of a dark lord!?"

"I donno? Because you can kill him in one stroke!?" said Harry sarcastically.

"It's more complicated than that Harry."

"Really?" said Harry skeptically.

"Harry," began Penny, "Nicolas has a purpose, when the second brother took him under his wing he made Nicolas swear several oaths and one of them includes never interfering with the affairs of wizards."

Lillian frowned. "So he decided to train you but not let you fight?"

Nicolas sighed. "Do you remember what I told you about Merlin?"

Both teens nodded. "Merlin lived up to the youngest brother's standards for a long time but as always power corrupts and Merlin strayed away from the task the youngest brother set to him. Merlin always used his power for good and never took any credit for his deeds, but there is a point in everybody's life when _they want to be recognized for what they do._

Merlin was no different.

The oaths I've sworn are to ensure I do not forget what my purpose is for as long as I live."

"What is your purpose?" asked Harry.

Nicolas just smiled. "To save the world," he said.

Lillian snorted. "How are you going to save the world if you can't and won't fight?"

"If such a situation ever arises where the world requires saving, literally, then you'll see what my purpose is. What _job_ I was given by the second brother."

Harry leaned back in his chair and sighed. "You make yourself sound like a hero behind the scenes."

Penny laughed. "Even if he didn't swear those oaths why would he want to risk his life and defeat dark lords?" she asked the two.

Lillian and Harry had no answer. She was right though. Which person in the right mind would keep fighting dark lords for centuries!? Harry was certain he wouldn't if he was ever in such a position.

"Tell me Harry, why do you want to fight Voldemort and kill him?"

"Revenge," said Harry simply.

"But not because you think it is your destiny and because you hold that wand?"

"That too," replied Harry.

"Why?" she shot at him. "And don't tell me it is to save lives."

Harry's stony face faltered for a moment.

"I guess, I look at it like it is some kind of a job," said Harry finally. "Something only I can accomplish."

"Selfish reasons," said Penny. "You're not doing it for the world but you're doing it for yourself."

"Of course I'm doing it for myself," said Harry. "If it weren't for that monster I might have had parents. Not some pathetic guardians."

Penny smiled. "And what do you think Nick here would have done with the amount of power he has? Keep waiting until a dark lord shows up and then kill him?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I guess he wouldn't do that."

"So if a person has a lot of power and is immortal but without a purpose, what do you think would happen?"

Harry shrugged. "How would I know?"

"What about you Lillian, what do you think might happen."

"Err… I guess he'd get bored?"

"Or he'd go mad because of living in solitude for so long and having to see the people he loves die. That is the price of immortality without a purpose."

"But you two have a purpose."

"That's the only reason we're sane right now. And the fact that we have each other."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"But there is one more reason why I _won't_ fight dark lords," said Nicolas.

Both Harry and Lillian leaned ahead, eager to hear the man.

"You know that the dark arts are just a part of evil and one day he _will_ come back?"

Both teens nodded.

"I could keep killing dark lords for the rest of my long life but evil would still survive."

"So your purpose is to defeat evil," said Lillian, her eyes wide.

"No," said Nicolas.

"No?" said Harry feeling annoyed. He was quite tired of the Flamel's guessing games.

"That is your purpose," he said calmly.

Stunned silence greeted him.

"I thought I had to defeat Voldemort," said Harry carefully.

"The one with the one wand will be the end of the evil," said Penny simply.

"What?"

"A prophecy made by a very famous seer centuries ago," said Nicolas.

"Meaning … me?"

The alchemist nodded. "It is quite self explanatory."

Harry felt a shiver of fear and thrill run down his back. "But I thought prophecies were unreliable," he said slowly.

Nicolas just smiled. "In our long years, I have never seen a prophecy not come true, however twisted the outcome," he said. "Usually they are very difficult to understand but this one is fairly clear."

"Who was it?" asked Lillian.

"Well, at first this is what the second brother told me and years later I heard it first hand from Michel de Nostredame."

"Nosterdamus!? _As in_ the muggle known Nosterdamus?" exclaimed Lillian.

"Yes," said Nicolas. "And all his predictions have come true so far."

Harry just stared at a spot on the wall, his mind going blank for an instant. He didn't know what he felt about this latest revelation. He didn't know whether what he was feeling was fear or was it excitement.

"I want to know everything," said Harry suddenly, snapping his head towards Nicolas, his eyes burning. "All the time you keep testing me, revealing things when you choose too, I want you to come clean about everything!"

There was a light blue glow around Nicolas and Penny and Nicolas looked very pleased.

"What was that?" asked Lillian.

"An oath being lifted," replied Penny. "We couldn't tell a few important things unless the one with the wand demanded it."

"You mean I could have just _commanded_ you to tell me everything and you would have told me!?" asked Harry incredulously.

Penny looked annoyed. "Not commanded," she said, "But yes, you could have asked for the complete truth and we could have told you."

"Well go on then!"

Nicolas exchanged a look with Penny. "There have been various prophecies regarding the end of evil and all of them point to one fact."

"Which is?" asked Lillian, her heart filling with dread.

"When the elder wand finally recognizes an owner, it will start the second rise of evil and only the wand owner will have a slight chance of defeating it."

Harry felt his heart skip a beat. "It will rise again?"

Nicolas nodded solemnly. "Maybe."

"But, what if Voldemort is killed before it happens?" asked Lillian.

Nicolas shook his head. "I don't know. I told you prophecies can be interpreted in many different ways. For all we know, if Harry here somehow manages to defeat Voldemort then maybe evil will never be able to rise."

"And what if it does rise?" asked Harry, his voice steady but his eyes betrayed his confusion.

"It will become an unstoppable monster," said Penny. "An entity with power we can't even dream of."

"But, if it is unstoppable how did the brothers defeat it!?" asked Lillian.

"They captured its heart."

Twin sounds of "Huh?" were heard.

"The second brother never told me the details but somehow they managed to capture its black heart. Once they had its heart, it was firmly under their control."

"But how are we going to do that?" asked Harry.

"So you've already accepted that it's going to come back?" Penny asked ignoring his question.

Harry took a deep breath. "I don't know if it will but I believe in being prepared for the worst and _this_ definitely is the worst case scenario."

Perenelle smiled. "You are a very weird child Harry," she said.

"Thank you," said Harry dryly. "Coming back to my previous question, is there a way to kill it?"

Nicolas sighed. "How old do you think I am Harry?"

Harry was taken aback at the change of topic. "I donno, thousand?" he said taking a wild guess.

"Try two thousand," said Flamel. "The second brother had lived for more than fifteen thousand years or more before he found me or that's what he said."

Harry and Lillian's eyes grew large at that.

"You weren't kidding when you said he was old," muttered Lillian.

"And senile," said Penny.

Nicolas smiled at that. "He trained me and taught me everything that there was to know at that time but he never gave me his name."

"So what did you call him?"

"Old man," he said with a grin. "But forget that. He was ancient, living on an endless supply of the elixir of life. He had lost almost all his magical powers and the only reason he hadn't succumbed to death was because he was looking for someone to take over his mantle.

He took Merlin's abandonment real hard and when he found me, the first thing he did was make me swear lots of oaths at wand point when I agreed to train under him.

I tried to make reason with him but he went on and on blabbering about not letting it happen again and all such nonsense."

"Sounds like a very charming person," said Harry with a smirk.

Penny leveled a glare at Harry and said, "He was the craziest and most knowledgeable person I have ever met."

"Anyway," said Nicolas hastily sensing an argument brewing. "I don't even remember the number of oaths he made me swear. But I can tell you for sure that I am practically a prisoner in my own home."

"Not that I mind," he added.

"But why would he do that?" asked Lillian, "I mean what was the point of making all powerful and all if you can't even use it?"

"Because he was crazy," said Perenelle flatly.

"Forgive Penny," said Nicolas smiling. "She just dislikes the old man."

"With good reason," she muttered with a murderous look in her eye.

"Why?" asked Harry looking extremely interested.

"A story you will never get to hear," said Penny glaring at her husband. "Why don't we get back to the original topic?"

"Ah yes. So I'm sure you've figured out _why_ I don't fight dark lords," he said, an amused expression on his wrinkled face.

The elementals nodded.

The group relapsed into silence once again.

"You know," said Nicolas after a while. "When I first met you two, Lillian told me something about Harry. Something about a moving power thing?"

"Yeah," replied Lillian. "Why don't you show them Harry?"

Harry glanced at her and then leaned back into his chair. "Don't know what you're talking about Freckles."

"Oh for heavens sake," she said irritably, "Stop being an idiot and just show them!"

"Fine," said Harry rolling his eyes. "You asked for it."

Lillian's eyes widened in horror as Harry raised his hand.

"Potter!" she yelled in panic as she rose from her chair and was flung out of the window.

Harry grinned as he heard her fall in the wet mud near the lake. His grin grew wider when he heard her roar in fury.

"So un-lady like don't you think," he said to the Flamel's.

"That was interesting," commented Perenelle.

"Quite," agreed Nicolas. "Do mind telling us how you did that?"

Harry shrugged. "I learnt how to have some control my magic when I was around 6 or 7 year old. I tried to reach out to the thing inside me which made me different and succeeded and ever since I've been able to move objects with my magic," he said.

"Hmmm... So because you tried to access your magical core at such a young age and successfully managed to do so, it manifested in a way we could have never known," muttered Nicolas.

"Can you do anything else?" asked Perenelle while Nicolas seemed to be deep in thought.

"No," said Harry. "It's just the elemental ability and this."

At that moment Lillian came back into the room looking extremely pissed but surprisingly clean.

"Did you change?" asked Harry with a smirk.

"There's something known as magic you moron," snapped Lillian.

"Anyway we'll test your unique skill tomorrow Harry," said Nicolas. "But before you two go upstairs there's something important I need to tell you."

"Do you know any magical creatures?" he asked them.

"Err… yeah," said Harry, "There are Unicorns, Dragons…"

"Hippogriffs and Centaurs," said Lillian.

"Goblins, _house-elves_ ," added Harry remembering Dobby.

"Alright," said Nicolas raising a hand to stop them. "You know quite a few magical creatures. You should know there are three branches under magic."

"Branches?" asked Lillian.

"Namely Wizards/Witches, magical creatures and dark creatures. Well this is the classification given by the ministry of magic," he said, shaking his head in amusement.

"I suppose elementals are classified as dark," said Lillian wearily.

"You guessed right. Which is exactly why you must _not_ tell anyone about your powers, not your friends, parents, nobody. If the ministry gets even the slightest of hints about your powers you will be carted away to Azkaban without a second thought, _or_ you will be captured by some crazy son of a bitch and will be forced to their bidding."

A nasty shiver ran down Lillian's spine.

"But is it that easy to capture an elemental?" asked Harry.

"No, but you will be on the run. You'll be wanted fugitives running for your lives with no one to help you.

Which is better? No one knowing what you are or running and hiding from the entire wizarding world?"

"I see your point," said Harry grinning lightly. "But how are we supposed to fight the dark lord if we can't use our powers?"

"Don't let anyone see you," said Penny.

Lillian snorted. "Yeah, like that's going to happen."

"That's your headache, not ours," said Nicolas. "But that's enough talk for today, it's time for you two to sleep and for us to watch a movie."

Huh?" was the eloquent reply from the two.

"We're watching a movie you dumb-asses," said Penny. "Now stop bugging us and go to sleep!"

"Which movie?" asked Lillian curiously.

"Inherit the wind," replied Nicolas.

"That's a really old movie right?" asked Lillian.

Penny sighed. "Will you go upstairs already!?"

"Can't we watch?"

Penny glanced towards Nicolas who gave a subtle nod. She then smiled and drew her wand.

There was a whoosh like sound and Harry and Lillian found themselves standing in front of their rooms.

"The hell!?"

Lillian tried going back downstairs but an invisible barrier seemed to be blocking the way down.

"Looks like we're trapped," commented Harry dryly.

Lillian's shoulders drooped. "Why can't we watch the movie?" she complained.

"What's the big deal?" said Harry.

"I haven't seen a movie for ages! The last one I saw was Aladdin and that was last year."

"Ala what?"

Lillian's mouth dropped open in shock. "You haven't seen Aladdin!?"

Harry's irritation level spiked. "Well forgive me for not wasting my time watching stupid _movies!_ "

"Aladdin is not a stupid movie Potter!" said Lillian angrily. "And just because you don't see movies doesn't mean they aren't fun!"

"I'm going to bed," he said shortly ignoring her rant and entered his _awesome_ pink bedroom.

He lay down on his bed and couldn't help but enjoy the feel of the soft mattress against his back.

As he slowly drifted to sleep, he suddenly wondered how was it possible that muggle technology worked in this house when in any other magical household they wouldn't.

Lillian on the other hand was wide awake. Her anger at Harry had ebbed away and the gravity of what Nicolas had said was just starting to weigh on her. She was going to have to hide her true self from everyone around her or risk being hunted down.

She felt alone and scared all of a sudden. She was after all just a normal thirteen year old… okay not a normal thirteen year old. But even abnormal thirteen year olds aren't supposed to be told they are not human and could be killed anytime and anywhere.

Her mind was in turmoil and it would be hours until she finally fell asleep. At first it sounded exciting, now it was slowly transforming into a nightmare.

* * *

A loud scream jerked Harry out of his sleep. He looked around wildly looking for the source of the sound but could find none.

"Must have been a dream," he muttered before he heard something scream behind him making him literally jump out of his skin.

He looked back sharply his heart beating painfully against his chest when he realized it was the alarm clock screaming.

A note materialized beside the clock telling him to come downstairs. It was five 'o' clock in the morning.

The clock screamed again making Harry jump again.

"Freaking thing is going to give me a heart attack," he said clutching his chest. The clock shrieked again and Harry hurled it out of the open window.

Sighing, he slowly dragged himself to the bathroom to get freshened up.

He stopped outside Lillian's door and wondered what if she had a similar alarm.

It wasn't. He could distinctly hear the alarm screaming freckles at an alarming speed. It kept going _freckles, freckles, freckles, freckles,_ until there was loud crash and the noise stopped.

"Well, looks the old man does have a sense of humor," he said with a wide grin suddenly feeling wide awake.

It took them about half an hour to get down which was practically a record in Harry's mind.

They found a note on the dinning table asking them to come out.

"They really like writing notes don't they," commented Lillian dryly.

"You bet," muttered Harry.

A cool breeze was blowing gently when they stepped out. The sun could be seen slowly waking from it's slumber and bathing the surroundings with it's light.

"Peaceful isn't it?" said Perenelle from behind them.

Harry turned to talk to her but instead his mouth dropped open.

"Oh.. what, how?" stuttered Lillian.

Nicolas and Perenelle seemed to have de-aged to around twenty five.

"Ah, it feels good to be young again," said Nicolas stretching. "Those old bones always make me feel lethargic."

"The Elixir of life," breathed Harry.

"Trainings going to be intense from today so we decided to be in good shape ourselves," said Penny.

"I'd have never believed it if I didn't see it," whispered Lillian in awe.

"Now, now Harry. You can stop admiring my body now," said Perenelle winking at him.

Harry blushed. "I wasn't," he muttered looking away.

"And you can stop sniggering too, Lillian. I know you were staring as well."

"So!?" said Lillian. "It's not everyday you see an old hag become a… … a….. well become young!"

"I know you were going to say hot kiddo," said Penny raising an eyebrow. "Do you swing the other way?"

"What!?" cried out Lillian, her face turning red.

Penny just waved her off. "You'll understand when you grow older."

"I understood! And no! I don't _swing_ the other way!" she said indignantly.

"Ahem," said Nicolas interrupting. "As illuminating as this conversation is. Let's get to what we came here to do."

Harry looked at Nicolas and again felt amazed at the change.

"You both are going to start by talking five rounds around the lake and then come in for breakfast," he said. "After that I'll be taking Lillian and Harry will be at Penny's mercy."

"Thanks for that," grumbled Harry.

"Okay start," commanded Nicolas.

With a sigh both started their jog around the lake. It began as a normal jog but soon transformed into a silent competition about who was faster and even though they both were tiring by the second, they continued to run. During the last lap it was a full out sprint which eventually Harry won.

Lillian looked like she had swallowed a sour lemon and Harry was just smirked and said, "Loser."

That irked her. "I wasn't aware it was a race," she said trying to catch her breath.

"Sure, sure whatever you say Freckles," he said in a patronizing manner.

Lillian sniffed in the air. "You stink Potter," she said coolly and walked back to the house.

Harry rolled his eyes but still sniffed himself and wrinkled his nose in disgust. He was stinking alright.

* * *

After breakfast Perenelle took Harry to the place they trained the previous day.

"So what are we going to do today," asked Harry, a little hesitation creeping into his voice.

He had to jump out of the way when a pale yellow light came shooting towards him.

"I guess it's dodging then," he said eyeing her wand warily.

The next hour was filled with Harry jumping and weaving through a constant stream of stinging hexes.

The one thing Harry realized was Perenelle was extremely creative when it came to shooting hexes. There was absolutely no way to predict what was going to come when and how. Each pattern was different from the other.

At the end of the hour when she finally stopped, Harry felt like he had been bitten by a hundred bees or maybe more.

"Well congratulations!" she said smiling. "You managed to score a 40 percent."

"Just forty!?"

"Forty is pretty damn good," she said. "It means you can probably stay alive for about 30 minutes in a real duel."

"30 minutes only!?"

"Less talk and more train," she said and conjured up a whole bunch of javelins.

"What am I supposed to do with these?"

She waved her wand again and a number of targets materialized in the air.

"Take three shots with your left hand followed by one with your right hand. Once you hit all ten targets we move on to the next round."

Harry took a deep breath and picked one javelin.

"I said left hand sweet heart," called out Penny.

"Left hand it is," he said rolling his eyes.

His aim was terrible. The javelin was too heavy and he couldn't even reach the targets.

Half an hour had passed by and he hadn't even managed to hit a single one. Both his arms were aching and on top of it his body stung too.

"This is pointless," he said irritably. "Those javelins are too heavy and the targets are too far!"

Penny simply shrugged and pulled a banana out of the bag she was carrying and threw it to him. "Maybe that will make you feel better."

Harry gave a sigh of defeat and ate the banana anyway.

It didn't make the slightest difference.

"Now start."

He picked up another javelin with his left hand and took aim again.

"Make sure you are well balanced and keep your arm firm," she said.

Harry obeyed.

"Now when you throw it, make sure the direction you throw the javelin is in the same direction as your line of sight and of course your eye should be only on the target."

Harry took a deep breath and threw it will all his strength and this time it managed to reach the target and miss only by almost six feet!

"You're getting better," said Perenelle approvingly. "Now continue until you get all the targets."

Harry began the exercise with renewed energy. With every throw the distance between the javelin and the target kept reducing until finally after one and a half hours he finally managed to smash a target!

"Yes!" he shouted in triumph.

"The rest of them are waiting," she said in a sing song voice.

Harry just grinned and said, "Bring it on!"

It was 12 'o' clock when Harry finally hit all ten targets and by then his arms felt like lead but the stinging feeling had gone and was replaced by unimaginable hunger.

The growl of his stomach was a testament to that hunger.

"I'm proud of you Harry," said Penny. "It took you only five hours to hit all targets."

"Is that good or bad," he asked.

"Good," she replied. "Considering the fact that those javelins were 4 kilograms each and you had to throw them 20 feet away your timing was pretty damn good."

"Four kilos!?" asked Harry aghast.

"Yes four kilos," she said. "And the fact that you managed to complete the task indicates that your magic is maturing at a terrifying pace and your strength and focus is improving too."

"Thanks," said Harry grinning.

"Now I know you're hungry, so let's eat before we continue our exercises."

Instead of going back to the house to eat, Penny had brought the food with her.

"This is some good Chinese food," said Harry, his mouth half full.

"Glad you like it," she said. "We ordered it just this morning all the way from China."

"China!? How the hell did you get it from China?"

"Magic," she replied simply.

"Oh yeah," said Harry. "But there's something I been wanting to ask you."

"Ask."

"You say you and the old man are around two thousand years old right?"

"Yes?"

"Do you keep records of all families and stuff like that?"

"Of course we do."

"Then you'll have records of my family won't you?"

"Yes," she said shortly.

"Could I have a look?"

"That's not possible right now. Those records are stored elsewhere and it would not be feasible for Nicolas or me to go and retrieve them."

"Oh," said Harry disappointed. "But there's another thing too. You see Austin forgot to mention one more unique ability we both share."

Penny raised her eyebrows in question.

"We're both Parselmouth's and I know it's weird," he said looking at her expression.

"Dumbledore thinks I can speak Parseltongue because of the whole scar thing but Austin is a different story all together and I can't understand it."

"Maybe she was born with it," suggested Penny. "I know quite a few people who had the ability to speak Parseltongue. It wasn't just limited to the Slytherin line you know. It's just an ability you're born with, like a metamorphmagus."

"I thought that too," said Harry, "But she can wear Slytherin's ring too. I had found it in my vault and could never wear it."

"Slytherin enchanted his ring so that only his ancestors could wear it, I know," she said frowning. "But Lillian is one hundred percent muggleborn. She doesn't have any magical ancestors as far as we know."

"Then how can she wear Slytherin's ring?"

"Tell you what," she said after a moment. "When you get back to Hogwarts, find the chamber of secrets. Inside it there is supposed to be a library in which Slytherin kept his most prized possessions. But the entrance can only be opened by a blood relative. If Lillian is able to open it, then she is a descendant of Slytherin."

"I already thought of that," replied Harry.

"You found the chamber?" asked Penny in surprise. "That was the only place in Hogwarts which Nick and I could not enter."

"But you know where it is?"

"It has two entrances, one in the enchanted forest and one in a bathroom inside the castle."

"I know of the one in the bathroom, but I didn't know of the one in the… _what forest!?_ "

"The enchanted forest also known as the forbidden forest in recent times."

"It was known as the enchanted forest? Why did the name change?"

"Because the name was too attractive to the students at Hogwarts. Visiting an enchanted forest is exciting, but visiting the forbidden forest is scary."

"Well to most visiting a forest which is forbidden to visit is adventurous," Harry said dryly. "Especially to Gryffindor's."

Harry ate his lunch quietly mulling over his conversation with the alchemists wife. Most of his thoughts were directed towards his family and their history which he couldn't seem to find anywhere.

"Are you done," cut in Penny's voice. "We have to get back to training."

Harry nodded and wiped his hands clean. "Ready for round two."

"Good," she said and conjured more spears.

"More target practice!?"

"This time it gets a little more interesting," she said. "The targets are going to be moving."

That said and ignoring Harry's mutterings she conjured more targets which began to move randomly at a steady pace.

"Remember. First three tries with your left hand and then one with your right. Begin."

He got one at his first try itself. Penny smiled but didn't comment. She could feel the change in him and couldn't help but wonder if he could change so much in a two days, what would happen after a month!?

Sweat was dripping from his face profusely and his arms were crying for rest but Harry ignored them and continued his exercise.

He was now missing the targets by a few inches even when they were moving so Penny decided to increase their speed but it didn't bother Harry. He just hit them harder and faster.

"Stop," shot Penny's voice over the sound of another wooden target cracking.

Panting Harry looked at her in annoyance for his concentration was broken. "What?"

"That's enough," she said and vanished the spears and targets.

"Enough for today or enough target practice?"

"Enough target practice. We're going to start a new exercise."

"A new exercise?"

"We're going to test the limits of your wandless magic," she said and placed the tip of her wand on the ground.

" _Broldeium,"_ she said in a strong clear voice and the earth began to shake and huge boulders began to rise out of the ground like bubbles in a bowl of boiling water.

Harry was amazed. He had read about this charm and it couldn't be performed by any normal wizard. It was said that even Dumbledore couldn't perform this spell without being severely exhausted and yet this woman was doing it with ease.

By the time she was done there were at least thirty to forty boulders twenty times the size of him around them.

"I want you to levitate one of these boulders," she said calmly.

Harry looked at her and then looked back at the boulder and said, "That one?"

"Go on," she said gesturing to one of the boulders, "Let's see what you got."

Harry took a deep breath and stretched his hands out in front of him.

For a few seconds nothing happened and Harry seemed to be concentrating real hard.

He then closed his eyes and the boulder began to shake.

Perenelle could see that Harry was straining himself but she let him continue anyway.

Suddenly Harry dropped down to his knees panting. He wiped the thin layer of sweat which formed on his forehead and said, "I can't do it. It's too heavy."

"Well to bad," mocked Perenelle. "Because you're going to be staying here until you're able to levitate all these boulders at the same time and then use your elemental power to shatter them into pieces."

"You're joking!" cried out Harry. "Do you even know how heavy that thing is!? Contrary to what you might think, I _do_ feel how heavy the item I levitate is!"

"Use magic!" she said smirking. "This is your next exercise. And if you don't finish the task by the end of the day, you _will_ be punished."

Harry glared at her furiously, "At least tell me why I am supposed to do this!?"

"Strengthen your abilities and to make you suffer," she said casually.

Harry's anger deflated and he shook his head. "You're a sadistic bitch, you know that right?"

"You've until six in the morning," she said coldly. "Your dinner will be sent here at eight and when I come back I expect to see your task complete."

That said she simply shimmered out of view leaving Harry alone surrounded by rocks and boulders.

"She is a bitch," he said with a sigh and resigned himself to his plight.

Minutes became hours as Harry kept trying to lift a boulder. Soon it became dark and his dinner arrived which he gulped down like water.

He conjured a blue flame to give him some light as he went back to his task but he couldn't do it. He was too tired and he couldn't even raise his arms anymore.

Harry decided to rest for a little while and before he knew it, he was fast asleep. The cold winds made no effect on him but instead made him feel much better and more comfortable.

Perenelle watched him fall asleep from a distance and sighed. She was hoping he'd at least be able to levitate one but she was wrong. She knew it was harsh on her part to make him do something so hard but time was running out and there was no time for the easy stuff.

* * *

The next morning when Harry woke he was quite surprised to find himself surrounded by rocks before he remembered the previous day's events.

His eyes slowly scanned his surrounding when they came to rest on a figure sitting on one of the rocks eating a sandwich.

"Good morning Harry," said Penny. "I see you had a nice and restful sleep."

Harry winced. "I suppose," he answered.

"Did you do what you were asked to do?"

"No I didn't," he said. "I could barely even move it."

Penny's wand was out in a flash. "Are you familiar with muggle military training Harry?" she asked him in a low voice.

Harry gulped and said, "No."

"Well," she said with a pleased smile. "Looks like you're going to get a crash course."

What followed after, Harry could easily count as his most painful exercise. He did sit ups, push ups, was made to run with his hands above his head. Penny even made him somehow stand on his hands and walk until blisters formed on his hands.

Harry sorely regretted meeting the Flamel's at the end of his routine.

"Now that wasn't too hard was it?" Penny said cheerfully.

Harry could see she was taking pleasure in watching him suffer and it frustrated him to no end because he _was_ suffering.

The rest of the day passed by in a similar way to the previous. First was the dodging training followed by target practice and then they moved on to the refining Harry's moving things ability. But only this time Penny asked him to try and use the water element to help him lift up the boulder.

It was met with partial success. Harry did manage to lift the boulder by a centimeter and when Penny asked to raise it further without his elemental power, it came crashing down.

Three days passed by before Harry was finally able to hold the boulder 5 feet above the ground without any effort.

"Now try to lift another one," said Penny.

Harry gave the slightest of nods. His eyes crunched up in concentration as he tried to lift another boulder without using his hands.

He could feel the intense pressure on his magic as the second boulder began to rise. His whole body began to shake due to the effort he was putting in.

"See if you can lift a third," said Penny softly.

Harry frowned. How was he supposed to lift another? He didn't have three hands!

Perenelle seemed to know what he was thinking. "Your magic is not flowing out of your palms Harry. It can flow out from any part of your body. Concentrate on holding the rocks up with your mind guiding your magic, not your hands."

Harry nodded and slowly lowered his hands while continuing to keep the two boulders air borne. Closing his eyes he reached out with his magic to a third boulder and envisioned his magic surrounding it and lifting it, just like the previous two.

Much to his delight it worked. The boulder began to rise slowly without a sound.

Now he was holding up three boulders and to his surprise it wasn't that hard anymore.

As a matter of fact he felt confident enough to try with more and one by one he began to raise each and every one of them and soon all the boulders were in the air just floating like planets in space.

"Put them down Harry," echoed the voice of Perenelle Flamel.

Harry lowered the boulders gently and took a deep breath feeling very relaxed all of a sudden.

"Care to explain how you managed to lift all those rocks?" she asked.

"I donno," replied Harry. "One minute I'm struggling to keep two afloat and the next it was all too easy! I think after I started to guide my magic with my mind rather than before when I would visualize it coming from my hands, it became easy.

When I was using my hands I could feel a little of the boulders weight which was quite a bit and when I started to use my mind it became as light as a feather."

"That's because before your magic didn't have much space to move around."

"Meaning?" Harry asked frowning.

"Look at it this way," she said. "We use our wands to access our magical core. You on the other hand did it without one. Just like blood needs veins and arteries to travel so does your magic. My hypothesis and original plan was to make those pathways expand by vigorous exercises. Just like how muscles hurt when they are over worked, your magic began to hurt too and it wasn't easy for it too travel so fast with a small outlet.

When you tried using your mind to control your magic, your magical pathways might have expanded drastically to meet the demand for it. And once your _pathways_ expanded, it became very easy for you to use it to raise the boulders.

Now if you reach a new limit, your magic will be forced to expand these pathways again which will allow you to have a greater command over your magic."

"Hmmmm," replied Harry. "Interesting, but is there a limit to its growth?"

"There is always a limit," said Penny. "You'll know when you reach it. Now I think we proceed. I want you to raise these rocks again and use your element to shatter them to pieces."

"How on earth are you supposed to shatter rocks with water?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Have you forgotten you can also lower its temperature!?" she shot back.

Harry's smiled sheepishly, "I forgot about that."

"Well go on then," she said. "Let's see you do it then."

Harry nodded and once again lifted all the boulders without a sound and without breaking into a sweat.

He raised his right hand and a burst of water erupted from it and began to surround all the boulders.

Harry closed his eyes and started looking for holes in the boulders and made his water enter through them. Once all the boulders were saturated with water he went in for the kill. The water began to freeze with a crackling sound and then he just dropped them down.

They fell with a loud crash and shattered into a million white pieces.

Harry looked at the woman, his eyes shining with triumph.

"Very good," she said clapping. "I see you have a greater control over your element than I originally thought."

"I practice a lot," said Harry.

Penny conjured two chairs and took a seat, gesturing Harry to do the same.

"How do you feel?" she asked looking at him closely.

Harry shrugged, "I feel perfectly fine," he said. "I actually expected myself to be quite drained but I'm not."

"The wonders of magic," said Penny with a smile.

"How long has it been since I last went back to the house?" asked Harry.

"Four days," answered Penny, removing a bottle of water and a sandwich from her bag.

"So has Austin been training like me or what?"

"No, Nick is working on her element mostly and her spell casting abilities."

"No physical exercise?" questioned Harry.

"Physical exercise is a must for anything. But for you its more intense because you have to take on a dark lord."

"Then why train Austin?"

"Mainly because she was with you and we wouldn't want her to waste her time."

"So she doesn't have to be involved in all this. If she wasn't with me then you wouldn't have trained her," he said.

"No, we would have disguised ourselves and helped her to an extent with her element."

"I see," he said quietly.

"But you're also being trained harder because you can take it," she said.

Upon seeing Harry's questioning look she elaborated. "You had a hard childhood. It's as simple as that. Nicolas went to your house and read your relatives mind.

Lillian on the other hand has had a perfectly normal life. She doesn't truly understand what it means to be frightened for your life while on the other hand, you do."

"So?" he asked feeling a little defensive.

"This whole training thing is like a new game to her and I don't blame her. She's acting like any thirteen year old child would behave in her position. But you, Harry sadly are much more mature than that. That is why when I tell you that you have to kill a dark lord I know you won't loose your mind."

Harry was silent for a moment.

"You underestimate her," he said suddenly. "I know she won't freeze in pressure situations."

"We know that too," said Penny. "The first test proved that."

"What's next?" he asked changing the topic. "Talking about Freckles is just a waste of time."

Penny smiled but didn't voice her thoughts. Instead she just drew out her wand and said. "Now we duel."

* * *

Three weeks had passed by since Harry and Lillian had been with the Flamel's and every single day both were pushed to their limits to learn new things and strengthen their bodies.

Added to that, both had not seen each other since the second day of their arrival. Penny kept Harry far away from the house in the small forest while Nicolas trained Lillian next to the lake.

But today was the day when they would finally meet.

It was late in the evening when a small ball of glittering light appeared over Penny's head and dropped a letter in her hands.

On reading the contents of the letter which Harry had no doubt, was from Nicolas, Penny immediately created a portkey and took them home.

Harry landed with a hard thump in the gold house of the Flamel's. They were in the living room and Nicolas and Lillian were already there, sitting on the couch.

There was a strange balance scale on the table and both Nicolas and Perenelle were looking worried.

"Welcome back Harry," said Nicolas. "I hope you're enjoying your training."

Harry snorted. "Does getting beaten to pulp everyday count as enjoyment?"

Nicolas smiled. "No, I'm afraid not," he said.

Lillian offered a weak smile and waved at Harry looking quite tired herself. Harry looked at her closely and couldn't help but feel she was different in some way.

He couldn't figure it out but he knew something had changed in her.

"It has happened," said Nicolas suddenly distracting Harry from his observation of Lillian.

Harry frowned. "What has happened?"

"Lord Voldemort has returned."

Lillian gasped. "He's back!? When did it happen?" she asked rapidly.

"Today and that's not all," said Nicolas.

Harry slowly sat down strangely feeling very light headed.

"This device you see in front of you is an instrument to monitor the consciousness of evil."

"It's on 35 percent," said Harry observing the markings on it. "Is that good or bad?"

"Bad," said Penny. "It has never gone beyond 10 percent even when Slytherin was at the heights of his power."

"Okay that's bad," muttered Harry.

"This only means Voldemort has used a ritual he should have never even considered," said Nicolas.

"I suppose it was very dark magic," said Lillian.

"Worse," said Penny grimly. "It is a ritual to sacrifice a soul in exchange for a body."

Harry and Lillian sat there wondering how far that was on the evil scale.

Nicolas sensing their confusion elaborated. "In simple terms Voldemort has just handed over a soul to evil and has effectively made his body a vessel for it."

"I don't get it," said Lillian. "How does evil getting a soul make a difference?"

"It makes a difference because now that a soul has been mixed in his magic, his consciousness is going to return at a tremendous rate. The more Voldemort uses dark magic, the faster evil is going to return."

"And added to that Voldemort will keep getting more powerful day by day because evil is slowly taking over his mind and body without him realising it."

Harry eyes widened in horror. "And Voldemort is not going to stop using dark magic which means…" He couldn't finish the sentence.

"How much time will it take for it to take over his body?" asked Lillian fearfully.

"We don't know," replied Nicolas. "It depends on Voldemort. I am sure he will not want to be wiped out of existence and will fight evil from taking over his mind."

Harry laughed humorlessly. "Voldemort fighting evil," he said shaking his head. "The irony."

"But eventually he will lose," said Penny.

"And when he loses the battle?"

"I believe some call it the apocalypse."


	34. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32 –** **Reunion**

Apocalypse?" said Lillian frowning. "I thought the apocalypse was like the end of the world?"

Nicolas shook his head exasperatedly. "Sometimes you really are dumb Lillian."

"Hey!" yelled Lillian indignantly.

"Not sometimes, all the time," said Harry smirking.

Lillian was ready to retort when Penny rapped both the teens on their heads.

"What was that for?" asked Harry angrily.

"Can you stop it for at least a minute and try and be nice for once?"

"Yeah, can't you?" asked Lillian grinning. "You arrogant arse."

"And watch that tongue of yours young lady," Penny said sharply to Lillian.

Lillian glared back at Penny not intimidated in the slightest.

Suddenly Harry gasped.

"What?" asked Lillian as all three turned towards him.

"I finally figured out what's so different about you."

"And that is?"

"Your hair!" he exclaimed. "It's short!"

"You just noticed?" she said incredulously.

It was true. Lillian's hair came just half way down her neck and the front of her hair was almost longer than the back with was tied in a small pony. Harry was amazed that he hadn't noticed it before.

"Why'd you cut it?" asked Harry. "Didn't like your hair before? Not that it looks any better now."

Lillian flushed red in anger. "I didn't cut it, it got burnt."

"It... got burnt?" Harry asked, mystified. "How?"

"You don't need to know alright!" she snapped.

"Ohhh… getting all defensive! Why, you couldn't control your element and you burnt yourself?" he asked grinning widely.

Harry felt a little uneasy when he saw Lillian smile instead of getting angrier.

"If you really want to know how I got burnt, maybe you'll find out when we fight," she said, her blue eyes crackling with the prospect of taking Harry down in a fight.

"Careful Freckles," said Harry. "You speak as if you think you can defeat me."

Lillian walked up to him and looked him in the eye and whispered. "It would be too easy."

Harry took a step forward too, their noses almost touching each other. "If we ever do have a duel..., make sure you have enough medical equipment around to keep you alive."

Both stood at equal height waiting for the other person to back down.

Suddenly they were roughly forced apart by an irritated alchemist.

"If you two want to fight, we'll let you fight and let you suck each others blood out. But for now go to your rooms and rest! We'll be getting back to your training after lunch."

Reluctantly Harry and Lillian forfeited their staring contest and headed upstairs silently.

"Honestly those two," said Nicolas shaking his head. "How are they going to fight together if they can't _not_ fight each other!?"

"They have to kiss each other," said Penny.

Nicolas laughed. "Fat chance of that happening."

Penny shrugged. "Let's their hormones start taking over and then see the spark of magic!"

Nicolas looked at his wife with a grin spreading on his face. "You know we have two hours till we restart their training."

"So?" said Penny feigning ignorance.

Nicolas moved closer to her and put his hand on her butt. "Garage or couch?" he whispered.

"Garage," said Penny huskily, moving her hands under his shirt. "Let's see if you're still that good!"

Nicolas lifted her into his arms eliciting a squeal from her. "Let's see if you can keep the volume down," he said and practically ran out of the house.

On the staircase Harry and Lillian looked on with their mouths wide open.

They looked at each other and blushed red.

"I… I think we weren't meant to see that," said Lillian uncomfortably.

"Or hear that," added Harry with a quiver in his voice.

They looked at each other again and suddenly leapt away from each other and hurried to their rooms, both eager to get rid of the nasty images in their minds.

* * *

Lunch was surprisingly a quiet affair after which Penny and Nicolas took their trainee's back to their make shift training grounds.

"Man I missed this place," said Harry with a sigh.

Penny raised an eyebrow as she surveyed the place. It was green, surrounded by trees and peaceful, but she was sure that wasn't what Harry missed.

"Why?" she asked him.

"Well, you do tend to miss the place where you spill precious blood," he said, unconsciously rubbing his right shoulder.

"Heh," was all Harry heard Penny say before what felt like a fist of iron came smashing into his jaws sending him flying.

Groaning Harry stood up slowly feeling dazed. He looked in Penny's direction and saw her grinning.

"W-what the hell was that for?" he asked wincing as he spoke because of the pain in his jaws.

"No magic allowed Harry," she said cheerfully.

"For what?" muttered Harry still feeling a little dazed.

"For this!" shouted Penny as she began to run towards Harry with her fists raised.

"Shi…," said Harry as he ducked under her punch only to be kicked in the stomach… hard.

"Gyahh!" he shouted as he felt the air being squeezed out his lungs from that kick.

Gasping he slowly moved away from Penny and pushed himself onto his feet.

"For the next five days we're going to study hand to hand fighting," she said.

"What good is hand to hand fighting in a battle of magic?" asked Harry skeptically.

"What good is hand to hand fighting?" she said in surprise.

"Well I suppose you don't have the issue of loosing your wand but it is important. In a battle where you have to preserve your magical reserves hand to hand combat is very useful. You could easily knock a wizard out and with speed and strength you could defeat him _or_ her without showing all your skills."

"So you decide to teach me that by beating me to pulp!?"

"Noo…" she said as if talking to a one year old. "I intend to beat the skills into you. Maybe if we had more time I would have taught you the stance and made you practice each block and attack like a good karate teacher but that's just not me."

"Yeah," grumbled Harry. "You love beating skills into a person."

Penny laughed. "Oh, you're so cute Harry. Now come, try and hit me."

"With pleasure," growled Harry and launched himself at her.

She dodged his fist with ease and swiped him off his feet.

Harry landed with a thump on the ground. "You idiot. Did you really expect to hit me with that lousy attempt!?"

Harry ignored her and tried to hit her again. This time she simply caught his wrist as his fist came flying at her and slammed her other palm on it snapped it like a twig.

Harry screamed in pain.

"What an idiot," said Penny with a sigh and pushed him away.

Tears were rolling down Harry's eyes as he fought to remain conscious and ignore the pain in his wrist.

Penny let him feel the pain for a whole minute before healing it.

"Do you still think this skill is useless?" she asked him.

"Screw you."

"You're too young for me Harry. Maybe when you're of age I could give you a good time."

Harry clenched his fists controlling his anger at the woman.

Penny sighed. "Can't even take a joke."

"You broke my wrist."

"I almost separated your right arm from the rest of you when we dueled. You weren't angry then."

"I was unconscious then."

"Oh! Yes," said Penny remembering that day again. "It was funny you know, the way your arm was literally hanging from your shoulder. You should have seen your face!" she said laughing.

"Only you would find something like that funny," said Harry and charged at her again determined to wipe that smirk of her face.

She caught his fist again and Harry instantly swung his other fist at her face which was caught by her other hand and before Harry knew what had happened, Penny crashed her head into his forehead knocking him out cold.

"Teenagers," she grumbled healing some of his wounds and then reviving him.

"What happened?" said Harry standing up, his green eyes looking puzzled. "Why is the last thing I remember is your head?"

"I slammed it into yours knocking you out," she said. "Now do you remember our training to make you move really fast using your magic?"

Harry grinned and moved at least 20 feet away from her. "Of course."

You're going to attack me using that skill and keep probing me for openings and see if you can get a hit on me."

Harry closed his eyes and began to gather some of his magic under his feet.

"Come!" shouted Penny and Harry vanished from sight and in the blink of an eye was behind Penny ready to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Instead Penny's leg smashed into his face breaking his nose. Harry felt like a hot iron rod had been shoved up his nose.

He felt the blood drip down his lips and his anger spiked when he saw Penny beckon him to attack again with a mocking smile.

No matter how much Harry tried and no matter how fast he moved, he just couldn't land a hit on her.

Deciding to try a different tactic he suddenly slid in front of her and tried to hit her feet but simply jumped over him and slammed her foot on his face.

This time Harry lost a tooth and his mouth began to fill with blood. But that didn't stop him. He knew he couldn't hit her with such an attack so he quickly grabbed on to her leg surprising her and making her loose her balance and quickly stood up while gathering magic in his fist and slammed it into her chin.

She staggered back, the surprise and shock evident on her face.

Harry moved back spitting the blood out of his mouth with a smug grin on his face.

"Bet you weren't expecting that bitch!" he said panting. Gathering magic under his feet and moving that fast took a lot out of him.

"No, I wasn't," she said trailing her wand on her chin healing the cut. Harry's punch was as quite powerful considering the fact that it was loaded with magic and she was protected by a number of charms to prevent any damage to herself.

The fact that she got cut was a testament to the power in that punch.

"But you seem to be at the limit too," she said.

"You wish," said Harry, even when it was too painful for him to gather magic in any particular location anymore.

"Alright," she said with a devilish grin. "Now it'll be who shall attack and you defending.

"Make sure to dodge Harry, because you know who much I love to give you pain!"

Harry sighed. The next five days were going to be bloody… literally.

* * *

It was finally over.

Only a few hours were remaining until the duo got back to Hogwarts and the Flamel's had decided to end their training.

They were all sitting by the lake resting comfortably.

"So did you have fun?" asked Nicolas.

"No," said Harry flatly and turned his back to them.

"A bit, you're quite a good teacher," Lillian said to Nicolas. "How was Penny, Harry?"

"She's a vicious blood loving leech," he said nastily.

Lillian stared at Harry blankly while Nicolas just chuckled.

"Err… she is?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes she is. She loves watching people bleed to death and then save them only to watch them bleed again."

Lillian looked at Penny with a disturbed look in her eye while Penny was coolly looking at Harry twirling her wand in her hand.

"I can still teach a lot, you know that right Harry?" said Penny, with a dangerous edge to her voice.

Much to Lillian's surprise Harry actually gulped in fear and shut his mouth!

"Wow!" she said laughing. "You got Potter tamed!"

"Shut up Freckles," snapped Harry. "I like to see you train with her for a week and survive."

"Well I didn't," said Lillian, "So there's no need to see."

"Now, now, stop fighting children," said Nicolas calmly.

Harry sighed and turned away from Lillian and Penny.

"Even so, do you think you have changed after coming here?" asked Nick.

"Of course," said Harry. "According to your wife I could easily defeat any strong wizard if I use most of my abilities, while if I can only use magic then I'm probably at the level of a trainee auror."

"Hmm… that's quite good," said Nicolas thoughtfully. "Lillian on the other hand has much to learn when it comes to casting spells but her elemental training as been excellent."

"Spell casting sucks for you huh?" Harry asked her.

Lillian shrugged. "Nick says I need to give my magic more time to develop before I can attempt harder spells."

"Ehh, whatever," said Harry dismissing her. He turned to Penny instead. "You're absolutely free today right?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said wondering what Harry was thinking.

"I want to see my family tree. I remember you saying you have the history of practically all magical families and I want to see mine."

Penny and Nicolas exchanged a glance.

"No," said Nicolas. "If you want to find out about your ancestors do it on your own."

"What! Why?" asked Harry angrily.

"Because we don't want to," said Penny. "If you want to know more about your family then go find your family home. I know you have the portkey to the house."

"But you won't tell me," said Harry. "Is it because they were dark or something!?" after a moments pause.

Nicolas sighed. "Look Harry. Even if Dumbledore asked me to show him his family's entire history I wouldn't."

"But why not!?" questioned Harry.

"If you want to find out about your family, you should do it by normal means."

"Are you bound by an oath?" asked Lillian.

"No," said Nicolas. "But our records have things that are not meant to be revealed to anyone but us."

Harry frowned. "Then just give me an overview," he said.

"Your family line extends back to the time of Merlin, that's all I will tell you," said Penny.

"Back… to the time of Merlin!?" said Harry, his eyes going wide.

"Don't worry," she added with a laugh. "You aren't related to anyone famous. Not the founders, nor Merlin himself."

"Then who!?"

"Why is it so important to you?"

Harry looked down at his hands and curled his fingers. "Because it is."

Penny looked at him hard knowing that he wasn't going to tell why and then just shrugged. "Well I guess it's your headache then."

"Penny," cut across Lillian suddenly. "Do you have records on me too?"

"Yes."

"So could you tell me if…"

"If you're mother was a witch? No she wasn't. You are one hundred percent muggleborn. If you want the answer as to why you're able to wear Slytherin's ring, then maybe you and Harry should take a trip to the chamber of secrets and try to do some in depth research on your family."

"Chamber of secrets? But nobody knows where it is!"

"Harry does," replied Penny with a smirk.

Lillian looked at Harry in surprise. "You do!?"

"Isn't there anything else to do around here?" Harry asked Nicolas wearily.

"Well I suppose there is one thing you could do," said the alchemist slowly.

Harry eyes lit up in interest.

"You and Lillian could have a little duel."

"Huh?"

"You heard me, let's see you two have a mock duel. I'm sure you both wouldn't mind trying to kill each other."

Penny looked excited too. "Yeah, let's see you two duel."

"Yeah Potter, let's duel. I can't wait to kick your butt," said Lillian in a challenging tone. "Unless, you're too scared," she added.

Harry stood up. "Too scared? Freckles, if we fight, it'd be over in second. That's all it'll take me."

Lillian stood up too and drew her wand. "Let's find out then, shall we?"

Penny jumped to her feet clearly eager to see the fight. She drew her wand and cast a spell over both of them.

A bright yellow light washed over them and slowly faded away.

"What was that?" asked Harry.

"That was to make sure you don't kill each other, don't do any permanent damage to anything and none of your body parts get detached by accident," said Nicolas.

"So I could go all out and not end up killing her," said Harry with a grin as he summoned his wand.

Penny and Nicolas moved away from them and nodded. "Take a bow and begin!" said Nicolas.

Harry and Lillian gave a small bow to each other and slowly moved a few steps away from each other.

Both were waiting for the other to make the first move with baited breaths.

Their heart rates steadily increased in anticipation and thrill when Lillian's wand was suddenly ripped out of her hand and flew into Harry's.

Harry smiled. "You lose," he said.

Lillian sighed. "You're so predictable Potter. I knew you would do that," she said and suddenly a ring of flames surrounded her.

"Stupefy," muttered Harry and to his shock the curse was stuck down by a burst of fire from Lillian's circle. He had decided not to use his element yet and first see what Lillian was capable of.

"None of your curses can get through by defense Harry," said Lillian with a smirk. She then raised her hands to the sky and brought them down sharply.

For a moment nothing happened and then huge balls of fire began to fall from the sky right at him.

Harry was forced to put up a strong shield and he began to run towards Lillian while continuously throwing low level curses at her which failed to penetrate her ring of fire.

Lillian too began running towards him with her hands ablaze ready to fry him.

"Take this!" she shouted and let loose a burst of flames obliterating everything in their path when suddenly she saw Harry leap over her head!

Harry took aim from atop and said calmly, " _Confringo_."

The area around Lillian exploded and Harry landed gracefully away from the blast area.

"You think it's going to be so easy," said a very familiar voice from behind him.

"What!?" he gasped in surprise as he twisted around.

Lillian was behind him with a ball of fire in her hands.

"Eat this," she growled and threw it at his feet. Harry's was blown back, his eyes seeing nothing but fire around him.

He landed hard on the ground and the only reason he wasn't burnt to crisp was because he had managed to conjure a shield just in time.

He quickly stood up and began to gather magic in his body to strengthen it.

"Behind you Potter," came Lillian's voice again and Harry flashed out of the way to avoid another fire ball bomb.

Using his incredible speed he quickly moved behind Lillian and fired another exploding hex.

Again Lillian was not there and had somehow escaped the blast.

A burst of fire from behind him told him her new location and he immediately moved away.

Harry stopped and then quickly turned around just in time to see Lillian appear in front of him in a flash of fire.

" _Confringo_ ," he said again as soon as she appeared. Lillian wasn't expecting that and flamed out of there immediately.

This confirmed the theory brewing in Harry's head. Lillian could teleport using her elemental ability.

Lillian meanwhile was also a little confused and amazed by the speed at which Harry was moving.

She would flame behind him and attack but he would move away so fast that she could only see a blur of him moving away!

Harry decided to change tactics. He had to lure Lillian into a trap, so he stopped moving and gathered his magic around his body to prevent any damage from the flames. He also had his wand aimed backwards hidden under his arms.

Just as he had predicted, Lillian flamed behind him and as he heard the noise of fire behind him he fired two spells in succession.

" _Ignisorbis, aetasflatus!"_ he whispered.

The first was an extremely fire resistant circular disk which was closely followed by a tiny black ball which would explode in three seconds.

His plan was success. The disk barely managed to get through Lillian's defense and the time bomb spell managed to get through and explode blowing Lillian away along with creating a foot deep crater.

When the smoke cleared, Lillian was lying a few feet away her clothes burnt in a few places and she was sporting a few cuts on her body. One cut above her eye was bleeding quite profusely.

Harry didn't give her time to recover and fired a stunning spell at her.

Lillian's eyes widened and she rolled out of the way, still feeling a little winded.

"Give up?" Harry asked with a smirk. "You're going to get hurt if we continue this."

"You must be insane," growled Lillian and stretched out her hand.

Harry's gasped in surprise when Lillian's wand which was in his pocket burst into fire and disappeared and appeared in her hands.

"That's new too," muttered Harry.

Lillian transfigured a number of stones into steel dogs and made them start running around Harry but not attack.

Harry frowned and stood still waiting for some form of attack

Suddenly the dogs opened their mouths and steel arrows began to fly at him at tremendous speeds.

Harry had quickly flashed out of range but the dogs seemed to sense his moments and followed his moments while continuously firing arrows at him.

" _Confringo_ , _Confringo_!" shouted Harry blasting two of the dogs to oblivion out of the seven.

"Stupefy!" he heard Lillian yell behind him and he side stepped the curse while blowing the rest of the dogs to bits too.

Harry and Lillian were now engaged in a cat and mouse game. Lillian would keep teleporting and firing curses while Harry would keep moving fast avoiding her curses and trying to predict her next location to take her out.

"Why don't you use your element Potter," called out Lillian stopping a little distance away from Harry.

"You sound out of breath," said Harry instead of answering her question.

"So do you," she shot back.

They both stared at each other for a moment before shouting Confringo at the same time.

The curses met each other midway and made a ear shattering explosion.

" _Conseco,"_ said Harry flashing beside her and a deep cut formed on her left hand making her cry out in pain.

" _Infusco,"_ she said angrily with tears of pain in her eyes and everything went dark for Harry.

"Shit," cursed Harry. He never expected Lillian to know the darkness curse and he should have closed his eyes when he heard her say it.

Now the darkness wouldn't lift unless he managed to get a hit on her again.

Suddenly it was raining fireballs again and Harry lost patience and summoned his element.

The ground around his feet began to freeze as the temperature around him dropped drastically.

He quickly covered himself in an ice shell and shouted, " _relucesco,"_ pointing his wand up. A bright white light emerged from his wand which was guaranteed to blind Lillian for a moment.

He then fired ice bullets from his ice shield in all directions with such a fury that each time one impacted an object it made a resounding sound.

Lillian meanwhile was overwhelmed by the sudden retaliation by Harry and she was forced to lift the darkness spell and focus all her energy on her shield.

"Play time over Austin," growled Harry and flashed behind her and unleashed a torrent of water over her head which froze everything it touched.

Lillian immediately twisted her body and let loose a burst of fire barely managing to counter Harry's attack.

"Confringo!" roared Harry flashing behind her again and Lillian simply teleported out of the way.

Harry's eyes scanned the area for her and increased the magic under his feet readying himself for a final attack.

"There!" he thought seeing her appear to his left and flashed an inch away from her.

"Game over," he said and slammed his fist into her face knocking her out.

But much to his surprise she simply turned to ash and Harry realized he had been fooled.

He felt a wand tip touch his back and tried to flash away but it was too late.

" _Confringo_ , _"_ she said with such fury that the explosion threw her back too.

She quickly stood up and waited for the dust to clear while preparing herself in case Harry and escaped her blast.

But he hadn't. When the dust cleared Harry was on the ground groaning and his entire back looked like it had been shredded with a jagged knife.

"Gross," thought Lillian at the sight of his back.

Harry was feeling incredible pain. Slowly he turned around and pushed himself to his feet, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

"If I hadn't protected by body with magic I would be I a lot worse condition," he thought grimly as he spotted Lillian.

"Nice trick," he commented as he drew a rune discretely with his leg. "What was that?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she said sarcastically and quickly flamed away as soon as she saw Harry flash towards her.

Harry quickly drew a rune there too.

"This duel is not going to end like this," he said flashing to another spot.

"One of us will make a mistake at some point," said Lillian keeping her distance from Harry. "Look at your back."

"True," said Harry and flashed away again. Lillian thought he was trying to attack her and flamed away but actually Harry flashed to a different place to draw another rune.

When he had finished his drawings he flashed to the centre and pretended to trip and fall.

"Chance!" muttered Lillian and flamed right behind him with the tip of her wand glowing red.

Harry jumped back and yelled, "Activate!"

There was a flash of blue light and Lillian found herself frozen.

Harry had drawn a pentagram with the runes signifying body, motion and end at all ends.

"What is this!?" demanded Lillian as she tried to move and flame away but nothing seemed to work.

Grinning Harry sauntered towards her and plucked her wand out of her hand.

"Now you really lose. Stupefy," he said and she dropped like a sack of potatoes.

.

.

.

.

Clap, clap, clap.

.

.

.

"Interesting duel," commented Nicolas walking with Penny.

"Turn around," grunted Penny moving next to Harry. She removed her wand and slowly healed all of Harry's injuries.

Nicolas did the same with Lillian and then revived her.

Nicolas then conjured four cushioned chairs and directed everyone to take a seat.

"First of well done the both of you and congratulations to Harry."

Lillian gave a dirty look to Harry and folded her arms looking away.

"Why thank you Nicolas," said Harry cheerfully. "After all we all knew I was going to win that duel."

"That said," cut in Penny loudly. "Both of you were idiots."

"What? Why?"

"Harry, you could have easily immobilized her by using your magic and element and Lillian you could have caused some serious damage to Harry by using that _special_ _skill_ you learnt while training with Nick, plus when you tried to blow Harry to shreds you could have stunned him instead and won."

"I didn't want to show that to Potter," she mumbled. "I was going to use that as a last resort and well the stunning spell didn't cross my mind when I had him trapped."

"And because you were keen on hiding most of your abilities, you lost by getting trapped in a rune trap made by Harry," said Nicolas.

"But I think the two of you should have a duel in which you're not allowed to use your teleporting ability and moving fast power," said Penny to Lillian and Harry. "If Harry hadn't used the pentagram rune, the duel would have never ended."

"I don't understand how come Lillian can use her element to teleport whereas I can't use mine to do the same," said Harry.

"Each elemental has their own unique powers," said Nicolas. "If you haven't discovered any then give it time and soon you will."

Harry nodded.

"Well," began Penny standing up, "The suns almost down and we have to send you back to Hogwarts in a few hours time. So Nick and I are going in and you two can come in whenever you want to. Dinner will be at eight."

Nick and Penny shimmered out of view leaving Harry and Lillian alone.

Both looked at each other uncomfortably before Harry turned around and sat under a tree staring over the lake.

Lillian followed him and took a seat next to him.

"Where did you learn runes?" she asked him after a while.

"Read about them," said Harry. "And I asked Penny to teach me a few basic ones."

"Oh I see," she said and they relapsed into silence once again.

The sun was almost out of sight and darkness was beginning to set in.

"It was a good duel," said Harry out of the blue. "You've improved your element quite a bit."

Lillian grinned and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Thanks," she said. "I see you've managed to put your moving things ability to greater use huh."

"Yeah," said Harry. "So you excited about going back?"

"I donno," replied Lillian. "It will feel so weird. I mean, to them we've gone for just over a month but in reality it feels like a lifetime."

"Well its not," said Harry. "You're friends are quite dumb and they'll believe anything you told them."

"Don't underestimate them Potter," said Lillian annoyed. "They're smart too."

Harry rolled his eyes. "What about Weasley?"

Lillian laughed. "He's a little passionate about a few things and very sensitive about a dozen more."

Harry snorted. "He's an arse."

"That's why he is your best friend in the other universe?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

"The other me is an arse too."

"Hmmm… or maybe you're an arse and not everyone else."

Harry thought for a moment. "Could be that too," he said with a smile. "But I rather doubt it."

"Well of course you do," said Lillian rolling her eyes. "Moron."

"What do you think must be going on back in the real world?" asked Harry changing the topic.

"I don't know," said Lillian. "I honestly have no idea why the Flamel's refused to tell was what's happening outside."

"I've never seen them get a newspaper," said Harry.

Lillian snorted at that, "They probably have spy cameras in every major office in the wizarding world."

"Hmm… I never really thought about that," said Harry looking surprised at himself.

"Oh and one more thing," she said with a little hesitation.

"What?"

"I'll be entering the portal first."

"Huh," was Harry's intelligent reply. "What brought this on?"

"Weeelll," she said uncomfortably "We do have a tendency of… you know… err… falling on each other. So… you know…"

Harry felt himself heat up. "Err… I don't think that's going to happen again," he said, purposely not looking at her. "So… you know…"

They both sat still feeling extremely awkward.

"Well whatever," said Lillian quickly, stretching her lithe body as she stood up. "I'm heading back inside. It's getting a little too cold for my liking."

"I'll be in soon," said Harry when she stood there waiting for him. "Unlike you I love this kind of weather."

Lillian gave a shrug. "Suit yourself," she said and headed back to the house which was glittering in the moon light.

"What a beautiful sight it must be from above," thought Harry. He imagined himself flying over the house and saw just tree's every where and a glittering house made of gold with a lake in front of it.

"I guess I now see the beauty of building a house of gold," said Harry to himself chuckling.

He sat there for another hour before going back, thinking about nothing and just enjoying the weather for he knew that when he got back… it would all be gone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Well here we are again!" said Nicolas rubbing his hands together. "Here's where I freaked you both out and almost scared you to death."

"You did _not_ scare us to death! We were ready to blow you to bits for your kind information," she said putting her hands on her hips and looking fierce.

"Ohh, touchy aren't you," he said with a chuckle ignoring her glare.

"Will we be seeing you again?" asked Harry. His question directed at Penny.

Penny gave a sly smile. "Why Harry? Going to miss me?"

"Yes," said Harry with a straight face surprising her.

"Oh," she replied, clearly at a loss of words.

Harry could not keep the grin of his face. "This is probably the first time I've ever got the upper hand in a conversation with you."

"And the last," she said.

"Anyway," said Nicolas. "You have about thirty seconds left before you leave. So listen carefully."

Harry and Lillian stood straighter.

"If there ever comes a time when you don't have the strength to go on," he paused. " _Summon the sword of Gryffindor_."

"What!? What do you mean?" asked Lillian confused.

Nicolas just smiled in a knowing way and placed his wand on a particularly odd looking rune and muttered some incoherent words. To Harry it looked like a bleeding phoenix within a rune which looked like a Japanese letter. It was the only rune on the entire wall which had an image in it.

Slowly the entire wall began to pulse a bright orange before slowly darkening to a dark blue color.

"Will we meet you again?" Harry asked again.

"You might," said Penny, her eyes unusually moist.

Suddenly the runes started rearranging their positions and started moving in concentric circles with a screeching noise like a rusted tap being turned slowly. Their speed and volume kept increasing by the second and when they looked like blurs the wall vanished and was replaced with a blue vortex with no end visible.

Harry and Lillian watched on amazed as this transformation took place.

There was a strong breeze blowing within the old cave but there was no pull from the vortex like the last time.

Nicolas removed a compass from his pocket and slipped it into Harry's pocket. "To see how much time you have to kill Voldemort," he shouted over the noise of the portal and shoved them both in.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was on his night time stroll in the castle when he felt the wards he had placed on the wall in charms corridor alert him of some major magical activity taking place.

His face lit up in happiness and he hurried towards the corridor which was only a few minutes away.

"God dammit Freckles! Do you always have to fall on me!?" he heard a voice he hadn't heard for more than a month say.

"That's why I told you to let me go through first!" said the other voice he hadn't heard for more than a month.

"And have me land on top of you!? You'd be squashed."

"Oh please, I'm taller and healthier than you so you're the one who should be feeling squashed."

"You're taller than me!? Which world are you living in Freckles? If you're heavier than me, it will be because of your large arse."

"My arse is perfectly normal you jerk!" she said angrily.

"Not from my angle."

"Than stop staring at it you pervert."

Dumbledore choose than moment to intervene. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Austin. How nice to have you back within these walls," he said, his eyes twinkling brightly.

Harry and Lillian immediately stopped their argument and looked at the headmaster.

"I can actually see the twinkle in your eyes in this darkness," said Harry in awe. He never understood how the headmaster's eyes could twinkle so much. He had a theory that Dumbledore might have put some holiday lights or defective tube lights inside his eyes to enhance his twinkling eyes effect.

"Thank you Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore his eyes twinkling even more brightly, making Harry more confident about his theory. "I'm just glad to have my two missing students back."

"It's good to be back professor," said Lillian, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Well why don't we head to my office then," said Dumbledore gesturing down the hallway.

"Sure," replied Harry. "I really want to know what we've missed."

"Oh you have no idea."

Quietly they walked in the corridors, their footsteps echoing all the way. They thankfully didn't meet anyone as surprisingly the entire law breaking student body had decided to stay indoors today.

Once they reached the headmasters office, they both let out a sigh of relief.

"What seems to be the matter?" asked Dumbledore politely.

"Nothing professor," said Harry. "It's just that past few weeks have been really crazy."

"I'm sure it'll be a wonderful story to hear," he said.

"So what's the story behind our disappearance?" asked Harry.

"Apparation accident," said Dumbledore. "You cast a spell wrong that forcefully apparated the two of you outside Hogwarts. You were hurt very badly and are in intensive care. Or you were in intensive care."

Harry was horrified. "I… cast a spell wrong? Are you insane!?"

Lillian nudged Harry frowning. "Watch it," she hissed.

Harry ignored her. "I bet nobody believed you."

Dumbledore smiled serenely. "Actually everyone did. Though I did notice the doubt and disbelief on your roommate's face when I did make the announcement."

Harry sighed in relief. "At least someone knows me somewhat," he said.

"Oh get over yourself Potter," snapped Lillian. "You're not god when it comes to spell casting."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Why don't you tell me about the world you visited," he said, his eyes peering over his half moon spectacles with disguised eagerness.

And so Harry and Lillian carefully told the headmaster about their surprisingly uneventful journey to the other world.

They obviously didn't mention anything about the detour to the Flamel's home as they were bound by an oath they swore during their training.

They also left out the parts where Lillian's element began to malfunction but told him about all the events that took place in that world up to the time they were present in that world.

Dumbledore's eyebrows were burrowed in thought when the two finished their story.

"Well first of I am extremely glad you two ended up in a relatively safe universe. Secondly knowing the future in that world is of no use to us since there are a lot of differences between the two."

"We know that," replied Harry. "The other you told us that, us leaving our world will cause a lot of drastic changes to occur."

This was a lie. It was Nicolas who had explained the workings of the dimension portal to them.

"You're right," said Dumbledore solemnly. "After you left, Peter Pettigrew escaped, Sirius Black has been cleared of all charges and Voldemort has risen again."

The last didn't surprise them one bit but it was the first two that made Harry jump to his feet and Lillian gasp in shock.

"Sirius has been cleared of all charges!?" he shouted in surprise.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes. After you disappeared and did not contact your godfather. He grew worried and decided to come check on you. Luckily I captured him on the grounds and a few drops of veritaserum later he was cleared of all his alleged crimes with the minister of magic as witness."

Harry slowly sank into his chair, his happiness filling his heart.

"Where is he now?"

"At Grimmauld place," said Dumbledore. "But in your excitement about Sirius's release, I hope you didn't miss the last of my sentence."

"We didn't Professor," said Lillian solemnly. "What's going to happen now?"

"Now," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling again. "You go back to your dorms and meet your friends and have a good night's sleep."

"But what do we tell anyone who asks what happened to us?"

"You recovered and you're fine and you don't want to talk about it you dumbass," said Harry rolling his eyes. "Goodnight headmaster, Freckles," he said and stepped out of the office.

"How rude," said Dumbledore in amusement. "But quite right too," he added. "Now run along Miss Austin. I'm sure you'd want to catch up with your friends after a month long absence. If they're still awake that is."

Lillian nodded respectfully and quietly slipped out of the room and made her way to her common room.

* * *

When Harry entered his room it was well after midnight and Blaise was fast asleep.

After leaving Dumbledore's office Harry didn't go back to his common room but went to his private den and stored the compass and portkey in his golden trunk.

That done wandered aimlessly around the castle enjoying the feel of the walls and the corridors and the magic that flowed through them.

He narrowly avoided being spotted by Filch who was prowling about looking for students to catch and finally went back to his dorm where he changed into his night clothes.

"I'm home," thought Harry before crashing on his bed and falling fast asleep.


	35. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33 – Hogsmeade**

It was dusk and the London tower bridge was filled on both sides by an angry mob of men and women.

There were a few budding reporters about with cameras and voice recorders weaving through the crowd looking for rational people to interview.

Vernie was one such young reporter.

"Come on Greg," she snapped at her huge camera man. "A two year old could easily crawl faster than you run!"

Greg glared at her. "What are we doing here anyway?" he shouted over the noise of the people yelling. "Instead we could be enjoying a beer or something now."

"We're here for a story you thick lump of cow shit. Now quit complaining or I'll kick you in the nuts."

"I'd rather have you suck on them," he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for her to hear.

Vernie glared at him furiously wondering for the hundredth time why had she been assigned the most useless camera man in the company.

"Excuse me, excuse me mister," she cried, pulling the shirt of a short surly looking man who wasn't shouting and yelling like the rest of the crowd.

"Yes?"

"Tell me sir," she said while beckoning Greg over. "What do you think of the government's decision to cut the pay of you postmen?"

"What do I think?" he said incredulously, looking at her as if she were stupid. "I think its fucking bullshit! That's what I think! We bring you your mails and packages travelling in all sorts of weather and what do we get in return when the economy breaks down!?"

"What do you get sir?"

"We get pay cuts! That's what we get!" he yelled angrily. "Half my co-workers got fired for no reason of their own. But here's the most pissing of part," he said. "The MOST pissing of part is that the employee's higher up keep getting bonuses and I don't see any of _them_ loosing their jobs!"

Chest heaving the man glared into the camera. "And do you want to know something else?"

Vernie hurried forward eagerly and placed the recorder closer to him.

"I think this…"

His words were drowned when a high pitched scream tore through the atmosphere effectively silencing the entire mob.

Greg pointed his camera in the direction of the voice and spotted a woman with a fear struck face looking up. She was pointing up and he followed her line of sight and froze.

There was a man falling from above and the strangest thing was he was falling slowly!

"Come on Greg!" shouted Vernie excitedly pushing people out of her way as the man hit the ground.

Greg had a bad feeling but followed the budding reporter none the less and focused his lens on the man's face.

His body went cold when he made contact with the man's eyes. They were completely black.

"Excuse me sir!" said Vernie excitably, "But what kind of a stunt… was…"

Her eyes widened as she suddenly felt a sharp pain erupt in her abdomen.

"Oh," she said in a small voice as she saw her shirt slowly turn red.

"Muggles are filth," hissed Lord Voldemort as Vernie collapsed. He then slashed his wand at a person nearby slicing him clean into two.

Then the panic set in. What started as a strike was turning into a blood bath. Everyone started screaming in fear and began to run trying to get away from this demon who had suddenly appeared in their midst.

The dark lord kept slashing his wand cutting down anyone in his path with an evil smile on his face.

Greg let his camera clatter to the ground and froze in shock and horror when he saw Vernie collapse in a pool of blood. But then the screaming began and his senses came crashing back to him. He ran forward, slung the bleeding girl over his shoulder and began to run.

"It's going to be okay Vernie," he said in a panicked and terrified voice as he ran for his life.

His heart rate spiked when the man next to him simply exploded spraying blood on his face. Greg suppressed the urge to throw up and simply closed his eyes and ran faster praying that this was just a nightmare and he would soon wake up.

A few men bravely tried to attack the dark lord but when they were merely a few feet away they were simply beheaded.

Voldemort sighed in pleasure on seeing the amount of blood being spilt. He slipped his wand back into his black robes relishing the sound of terror.

"Running is futile," he said and slowly raised his hands to the blood red sky.

He was right, from shadow of every person in the area a swirl of darkness began to rise from their own shadows.

"No, NO, NO! Please!"

"HELP ME!" screamed someone trying to run away from the darkness that was slowly began to change to the form of a spear.

The screams continued to increase in volume as people tried everything possible to get away from that unnatural darkness but it was useless.

Voldemort thrust his hands forward and suddenly all the screaming stopped.

Each and every person who was on the bridge had a gapping hole in their chests with flesh, bones and blood all around.

They were all dead and an eerie silence engulfed the bridge at the centre of which stood Lord Voldemort.

Blood was flowing everywhere and slowly dripping down the edges of the bridge into the river below.

Voldemort glanced to his side and found the camera man's camera facing him.

His lips curled. Despite the hate he had for the muggle world, he did have a little knowledge about their technologies thanks to his stay in his orphanage.

"Bow down before me," he said softly, "Or embrace death."

That said he slowly rose into the air and hovered above the bridge.

"I AM LORD VOLDEMORT!" he shouted and from the shadow of the bridge dark black ropes sprung out and began to wrap themselves around the massive structure.

The dark lord curled his long fingers into a fist and the London Tower Bridge was crushed to pieces.

Voldemort sighed in content at the sight still floating in the sky his black robes fluttering in the wind.

Once the sound of the falling debris had stopped Voldemort saw the muggle police arrive at the scene and point their weapons at him.

"Muggle weapons," thought Voldemort in disgust.

"C-COME DOWN WITH YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD," blared a voice from below.

Voldemort sneered. He could practically smell the fear radiating from these low lives.

He frowned when heard an odd buzzing sound. He looked behind and saw a helicopter hovering a little distance away from him with a man inside pointing a rather long metal weapon at him.

"Lower yourself now or we will open fire," repeated the voice from below with a little more force and confidence.

The helicopter began circling him and another news helicopter joined it a second later taking a video of the entire thing.

"Confringo," said Voldemort lazily blowing the helicopter out of the sky leaving the one news channel one intact. After all, the point of this attack was to make the world aware of his existence!

"Open fire!" someone screamed and suddenly Lord Voldemort found himself in slight discomfort as holes were punched into his body.

He quickly conjured a silver shield to prevent damage to his body and pressed his thumb into the newly tattooed, slightly modified dark mark on his left palm.

Instantly there were loud cracking sounds heard all around and people in black robes began appearing in the midst of the muggles. They immediately began doing what they did best. Killing people and blowing up everything in their sight.

It was a massacre. The muggles didn't even stand a chance.

Green flashes of light were seen all the time and men and women kept dropping like flies swatted out the air. Their screams for mercy was in vain for the deatheater's of Lord Voldemort show no mercy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Two things were happening simultaneously, the Order of the Phoenix was having a meeting and the new Minister of magic was meeting the Prime minister of the United Kingdom.

 **Number 13 Grimmauld Place**

There was a grim silence lingering in the kitchen as Dumbledore explained the latest events that had occurred.

"More than three hundred people dead," whispered Molly Weasley in shock.

"Three hundred and twenty three," corrected Sirius absently.

"What's the muggles reaction?" growled Moody.

Albus sighed. "For now that video recording has been removed from all possible news channels and they are running a story that the video was fake and it was actually a terrorist attack on their nation."

"But why?" question Remus. "Why would he try and expose our world to the muggles? He didn't bother doing anything like this before."

Severus Snape chose that moment to enter the meeting.

"He's doing it because he's not thinking rationally," said the spy.

"Ah Severus, right on time," said Dumbledore with a smile, ignoring the swear words streaming out of Sirius's mouth.

"Well?" growled Moody.

Snape sneered at Moody.

"Why are you late?" asked Hestia Jones.

"The dark lord is celebrating his success and all this minions were supposed to be there."

Remus snorted, "What kind of celebration does he do? Torture people?"

Snape shifted his gaze towards the werewolf. He considered just insulting the wolf but instead decided to enlighten them.

"Not people, muggle children," he said viciously.

The entire room gasped.

"He'll ask each of his deatheater's to choose a child and do whatever they wish to do and we have to be there to witness those children scream and die."

He paused and took a deep breath to get those awful images out of his mind.

"That is what his celebrations are like."

"And what did you do?" said Sirius glaring at the potions master.

Snape was about to reply when Dumbledore cut across.

"Severus my friend, what news do you have for us apart from the _celebrations_."

"The dark lord has new powers," he said shortly. "As you all might have heard, he can control shadows."

"A power quite fit for a dark lord," muttered Charlie Weasley.

Ignoring the mutterings Snape continued.

"The dark lord is not the same as he was. He is becoming reckless, unpredictable, unreasonable, and... Sometimes he _argues_ with himself."

"Talking to an imaginary person, the first signs of insanity," said Tonks sagely.

"This is not funny Tonks," snarled Moody. "Do you know how dangerous this power could be!? We all could surround him and he'd just kill us with our own shadows!"

"Then fight at night," said Tonks indignantly. "He attacked in the evening because the shadows are the largest then and at night there are no shadows but darkness."

There was stunned silence.

Dumbledore cleared his throat bringing everyone out of their stunned stupor.

"Thank you Tonks, for that piece of err… advice. But Severus, you were saying?"

"Ah yes. All in all, the dark lord has changed. He cares not for blood purity but for ruling the world."

"And so the mad scientist in him is born," said Charlie lightly.

"Hasn't that always been his goal?" asked Arthur. "He always wanted to rule the wizarding world."

"He has always wanted for the wizarding world to reign supreme," corrected Dumbledore.

"And now it's the world which is larger than our world," snapped Snape. "But that is not my point. My point is the dark lord has clearly lost his mind after his rebirth and his magic is twice as strong as before."

"Which makes him even more dangerous than he already is," said Dumbledore solemnly.

"So what are we going to do about it," asked Sirius. "Frankly speaking, we are quite a useless order."

Immediately there were angry shouts and nasty words flying at him.

Sirius just raised both his arms in surrender and stood up. "Hear me out," he said calmly.

"All we do is guard a damn prophecy which none of us know what it says. We trail known deatheater's and do nothing when we see them carry out illegal activities. We try to find out the dark lords plans but do nothing to prevent them.

So tell me, what is the usefulness of this order?"

"Then what do you suggest Sirius, that we start killing deatheater's?"

"No, capture them, interrogate them. Stop them from joining Voldemort. Attack them before they can attack us."

"Well said lad," said Moody banging his wooden leg on the floor. "What do you think I've been trying to tell Dumbledore all these years? If you don't fight fire with fire we will be consumed by that raging inferno."

"And if you fight fire with fire, everything in its path will burn," said Dumbledore quietly. "I will not tolerate the use of violence in this order."

"Then if that's the case I quit this order," said Sirius furiously.

"What are you saying Sirius!?" gasped Remus.

"How can we win if we do not do anything!?" he shouted. "You keep sending Remus to the werewolves to gain their allegiances to what purpose? So that you can tell them to sit around and do nothing? You sent Hagrid to the giants for what? So that you can order them to stay in mountains and do nothing!?" It took you three years to realize that you had to fight Grindelwald to stop him and I am NOT going to sit around and wait for you to realize that you have to fight Voldemort to stop him!"

"As much as it pains me to say it, the dog is right Dumbledore," said Snape. "You have nothing to offer to the werewolves and giants whereas the dark lord has everything."

Kingsley Shacklebolt to that very moment to walk into the room much to Dumbledore's relief.

"Ah Kingsley, I see the Madam Bones has finished her meeting with the Prime Minister."

"Yes she has," replied Kingsley in his deep voice taking a seat next to Moody.

"Would you mind enlightening us?"

Kingsley grinned. "The prime minister started threatening us and made Madam Bones loose her temper."

Moody winced.

"So?" asked Tonks confused.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Why don't you ask Alastor. He knows first hand what happens when you make Amelia loose her temper."

"You see this eye," he said wearily pointing at his magical eye. "I never lost it in a battle with deatheater's."

Those who didn't know the story gasped in shock.

"Madam Bones did that!? Why!?"

Moody now looked increasingly uncomfortable. "Amelia and I were in a relationship a long time ago."

This brought about more gasps of horror. Sirius fainted and was quickly revived by Arthur Weasley.

"And then I cheated on her," he added regretfully.

"You cheated on her!" screeched Tonks.

"I was young," said Moody defending himself. "The girl was smoking hot and I couldn't resist!"

"Oh my god," whispered Sirius. "I can never imagine Moody with a woman."

"And then Amelia found out and we had a fight, which from a shouting battle became an all out duel _which_ leveled a five storey building. During that battle I lost my eye to her great satisfaction."

"Did she loose anything?"

Moody grinned. "If you ever feel her breasts, you'll realize one of them is missing."

Wide eyed, Tonks and the rest of the order stared at him.

"I think that's what made her go mad and gouge my eye out," he added as an after thought.

"I would have gouged a _lot_ more than that if I were her," said Jones.

"Aye," said Moody inclining his head. "But let's get back the topic being discussed before Kingsley came in. I want to know if Albus is ready to use force, _or_ not."

All heads swerved to the headmaster while Bill filled Kingsley on whatever he missed.

Dumbledore closed his eyes. "To take such a decision requires time," he said softly.

"We don't have time Albus," Moody wisely pointed out.

Dumbledore sighed. "Alright, I shall think over it tonight and you shall have an answer tomorrow at the same time. Kingsley can give his report then. Goodnight Ladies… and gentlemen," he said and swiftly walked out of the room and flooed back to the castle.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **A day before Voldemort attacked.**

It had not been a good day for Harry Potter.

First he had been given detention for skipping Transfiguration. Then some moron, probably the twins, had seen fit to prank the entire Slytherin house by changing their hair pink. Not just the hair on their heads but the hair on every part of their body!

Added to that, Ronald Weasley had almost killed him by accidently dropping a suit of armor with a sharp sword on him.

Added to that, Austin's stupid friends were with her all the time so he still could not get a hold of her to make a trip to the Chamber of secrets.

Added to that, his place in the Quidditch team had not yet been given back to him, thanks to Malfoy stealing his spot when he was off dimensional travelling.

And to top it all of, Daphne Greengrass had asked him out on a date!

 _How screwed up was that?_

He was pacing up and down in his room and Blaise was watching him thoroughly enjoying himself.

"You should be ashamed of yourself Harry," said Blaise.

Harry stopped pacing and turned towards his roommate. "What gave you that idea genius!?"

"First of, she asked you out and then you like an idiot told her I'll think about it!"

"What else was I supposed to say!?"

"You should have said yes! She's good looking and she likes you! Isn't that reason enough?"

"I was caught off guard! And I had a lot more things on my mind at that moment."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Are you afraid she'll kiss you?"

Harry's eyes bugged out.

"Kiss me!?" he squeaked. "Why would she kiss me!?"

"Huh? Why are you freaking out?"

"But why would she kiss me!?" yelled Harry waving his hands around frantically.

"She's a growing girl, you're a growing boy, haven't you ever looked at a girl and thought she's cute?"

Harry stopped pacing and then began rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, yeah sometimes."

"Oh!" said Blaise excitedly. "Who do you think is cutest or rather hottest in our year!?"

"Why are you getting all hyper?"

Blaise ignored him. "Have you seen Hannah Abbot in Hufflepuff? The rack on her… Ohhh…" he said dreamily. "And Katie Bell in Gryffindor, if she were in any other house, I would have asked her out in an instant, and how can we forget Tracey and Daphne… … and of course Dominique Morgan, the hottest and most beautiful girl in school, too bad she's a bookworm!"

"Blaise, BLAISE!" shouted Harry. "Calm down you crazy fool!"

Blaise had a little glazed look in his eye. "Ah, I wish Daphne had asked me to go with her," he said with a sigh. "But instead she asked _you_ , you who don't know the difference between a guy and a girl!"

Harry frowned, "I do know the difference between a guy and girl. But what I don't understand why on earth you want me to go with Daphne to Hogsmeade."

Blaise smacked his head against his bedpost. "Harry, have you ever felt a little weird or a sort of a strange feeling deep within you when you see a really beautiful, stunning girl?" he asked calmly.

"Of course, but that doesn't mean anything!"

"Of course it does you… you idiot! It means you're attracted to them!" yelled Blaise. He turned swiftly and slipped his hand under his bed and removed a red colored magazine.

"Here," he said and tossed it to Harry. "Maybe you'll learn something from that."

"Hmm, what's this?"

"That is the greatest invention of the muggles," he said while regarding the magazine with reverence as Harry face slowly turned red.

"Playboy!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next day Harry woke up very early. Yawning he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes and turned to his side table to drink a glass of water but instead turned red.

The magazine was wide open and had a very interesting picture on it.

Harry shut it quickly and threw it at Blaise who didn't even twitch when it hit on the head.

But he couldn't help but be thankful to him too. That magazine had been very informative about a lot of things that had been happening to him lately.

His gaze shifted back to the magazine and he quickly averted his gaze to prevent certain thoughts from drifting in his mind.

But he couldn't resist.

"I'll never be able to look at girls the same way again," he said with a sigh and slowly tiptoed over to Blaise's side and took the magazine back and opened it again.

"How in Merlin's name to they get into those positions," he said in fascination before cursing out loud.

"Crap, getting a reaction again! Down, down, down!" he hissed at little Harry frantically.

Red faced he shut the magazine, shoved it under his bed and practically ran to the bathroom.

He really, _really_ needed a cold shower.

Fifteen minutes later when his head was finally clear; he changed into his jogging outfit and headed out to the Quidditch grounds for his daily exercise.

It was still only five thirty. Staying with the Flamel's had certainly altered his sleeping routine.

Light was just beginning to enter the atmosphere when Harry entered the grounds and began his rounds.

Half an hour later just as he began his stretches he was surprised to see another figure enter the grounds.

"I thought you preferred the lake?" he asked Lillian who was wearing a thick jogging outfit. No doubt to keep the cold away.

"I-it's too cold," she managed to say and began her rounds.

This was a routine Harry and Lillian had adapted to after a month with the Flamel's.

Harry shrugged and joined her silently. He always found it amazing that he no longer felt irritable or repulsed by her presence. She had certainly grown on him.

After ten minutes of running Harry decided to break the silence. "Have you decided when you want to go to the chamber?"

"Vacations, when no one is around," she replied.

Harry sighed. Lillian had been avoiding going the chamber ever since they came back.

"I'm going back for the vacations and I really don't understand why can't you just sneak out at night and come!?"

"Why don't you just tell me where it is and I'll go whenever I want!"

"No way, I know you'll ditch me," said Harry flatly. "Don't you want to know if you're related to Slytherin or not?"

Lillian hesitated and Harry's eyes widened in realization.

"You're afraid that you might be!"

"Yes, I am alright," she snapped. "I'm afraid I'm related to the founder of the house of stinking snakes!"

"There's nothing wrong with our house," Harry snapped back. "It's yours which needs to get your head out of your asses."

Lillian stopped with a scowl on her face. "I don't want to know if I'm related to him alright!? I don't care and it doesn't matter!"

"Well I want to know what's hidden in that room so you _have_ to come tonight!"

"I don't have to do anything Harry," she growled. "And if you force me, you know I can stand up to you in a fight."

Harry laughed. "Of course you can, or maybe it appeared that you can. But one way or another, you are coming to the chamber tonight."

Lillian's fist snapped forward suddenly and Harry caught it before it hit him.

They both stood there glaring at each other just inches apart.

Suddenly Lillian's left foot flew to Harry's head and he caught that too and slammed his knee into her right side.

She fell and landed with a painful thump and quickly got back to her feet radiating fury.

"Why do always resort to violence when you feel trapped or at loss for words!" asked Harry exasperatedly.

"You want to duel Potter?" she growled angrily. "There's still time before everyone got up."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "No thank you," he replied coldly.

Suddenly Lillian smiled and straightened up looking relaxed. "I understand," she said. "Our last duel did leave a lasting impression."

Harry's anger shot up with a vengeance but he crushed the feeling remembering Penny's most important rule which she had drilled into his head… literally.

 _"Deception is the key to winning a battle. Cheat, lie and never ever show your true power to anyone no matter what the case may be, unless you absolutely have no choice."_

He hated pretending to be weak in front of a bug.

"It did," said Harry, even though it hurt his ego and pride to say that. "But that doesn't matter."

He took a deep breath and looked at her with strengthened resolve. "We are going to the chamber _tonight_. You owe me that."

"Why the hell do I owe you that!?" she asked looking shocked.

"I told you about your elemental power when you were confused, I kept it a secret from others, I haven't told anyone about you being a Parselmouth and if it weren't for me, you would have never met the Flamel's and improved your control over your element."

"Let me tell you something mister," she began, her voice shaking with anger. "I would have found out about my element sooner or later, with or without your help. I would have met the Flamel's either way because they said it was their duty to impart some knowledge to an elemental and you haven't told anyone about my special language because I haven't told anyone about the secrets that are yours which are a hundred times bigger than mine!"

She was panting by the time she finished her rant.

Harry decided to play the emotional card, or rather the pleading card though he'd never call it that. It was too much of a bruise to his ego.

He sighed and looked down. "Listen Lillian," he said awkwardly, using her first name. "I know you don't want to go down there but can't you do this one thing for me? I really need to know what's in that chamber and you're the only one who can help!"

Lillian glared at him. "Won't work on me Potter," she said seeing through his tactics but Harry could see that she was already melting.

"Come on Austin! After all that we have been through together can't you do this one favor for me? Haven't we become friends!?"

She pointed a shaking finger at him but there was no real anger behind it. She was loosing the battle and Harry could see that.

He decided to use the magic word.

"Please Lillian," he said, his eyes pleading for a yes.

"Alright," she said with a low growl. "Alright we'll go! But I still don't like it."

Harry hid the feeling of victory that just erupted in him and settled for a smile.

"So where is the chamber?" asked Lillian.

"Meet at nine outside Myrtle's bathroom," he said.

"Myrtle's… bathroom?" she asked mystified.

"9 'o' clock," said Harry again tapping his wrist and began to jog back to the castle but not before waving cheekily at her.

Lillian stared at his retreating back until it disappeared through the entrance to the grounds.

"Oh what have I just agreed too!?" she said with groan. "Argh, damn that bloody… bloody…!"

Words failed her.

"Damn him!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Morning classes had just finished and Blaise and Harry were on their way to the great hall.

"Are you going home for the holidays?" Harry asked Blaise.

"Of course. Mum has been planning to take us to Italy to meet her sister. What about you?"

"Yup."

"Not planning to go anywhere?"

"Maybe," replied Harry vaguely, "Depends on a lot of things."

"Like?"

"A lot of things," Harry said again.

"Like!?" asked Blaise again.

"A LOT of things."

"LIKE!?"

Harry just smirked and didn't reply.

Suddenly the pair were ambushed by Daphne and Tracey.

"Hey Harry, have you made up your mind yet?" she asked cheerfully, her eyes sparkling.

Harry opened and closed his mouth without a sound coming out.

Blaise, not so subtly nudged him in his ribs sharply.

"Y-yeah. Let's go together," Harry stammered.

She smiled widely, "Great, wear something nice and I'll meet you at three at the carriages," she said and hurried away. Tracey whispered something in her ear and they both started giggling furiously.

"I'm dead," said Harry flatly when they were out of sight.

"Oh, don't be so negative. It'll be fine!"

"Are you going with anyone special?" Harry asked him.

Blaise shook his head. "Malfoy, Nott and I are going together. Parkinson tried to get Malfoy to come with her but he refused."

"Hmmm… I wonder why Daphne wanted to go with me then?" he said out aloud.

Blaise snorted.

"Even though I hate to say it, you've changed after that accident of yours. You're taller, look more grownupish and you look good... _yuck!_ I can't believe I said that!"

"Must have been the effect of the potions," said Harry grinning and wincing at the same time, remembering how exactly his body had developed.

"Lucky you," mumbled Blaise.

A thrill of excitement ran through Harry as he thought about his _first_ date and suddenly, he found himself looking forward to visiting Hogsmeade with Daphne Greengrass.

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was late in the evening when the school returned from the trip to Hogsmeade.

All the Slytherin third years were in the common room leaving out two.

"Where are those two?" growled Tracey irritably. "Daphne was supposed to meet me here half an hour ago!"

"Maybe they got lost," said Nott.

"Or _maybe_ ," she said suggestively.

"Or maybe what?" asked Draco cluelessly.

"They're in a broom cupboard," said Tracey rolling her eyes.

"What!?" squeaked Pansy. "They wouldn't!"

"Why not?" asked Blaise.

"She doesn't have it in her," she said scornfully.

"What's that supposed to mean," said Tracey angrily coming to the defense of her best friend.

Pansy shrugged arrogantly. "She's not me."

Everyone was stunned. They knew Pansy was a spoilt arrogant pain in the ass but this was taking things to an all new high.

All of them started laughing uproariously at the same time.

This was the scene Harry and Daphne found when they entered the common room. All their class mates rolling with laughter and Parkinson, her face red with anger marching back to her dorm.

"What's going on?" asked Daphne.

All heads swerved towards them so fast that it was creepy to look at.

"Oh, you're back!" they exclaimed together leaving out Pansy who was giving Daphne the evil eye.

"Yeah we're back," replied Harry rolling his eyes. He started to move towards his dorm before stopping and turning towards Daphne.

"I… Erm… had a nice time," he said in a low voice with a hint of a smile. He didn't want the others to hear him.

Daphne blew a kiss at him. "So did I," she said whispered and skipped towards Tracey and pulled her along back to her room ignoring her friends protests.

Just before heading up Daphne turned back and blew a kiss to Harry.

A second of stunned silence passed before all the girls quickly hurried after the duo, themselves eager to know what happened.

The rest of the boys were simply dumbstruck.

"Did, did Greengrass just give you a flying kiss!?" asked Nott finally, his voice quivering.

"Hmmm, I guess she did," Harry replied and winked. "Well anyway, don't expect me to gossip about it. See ya!" he said cheerfully and hurried back to his room before they could stop him.

And just as he expected Blaise came rushing in two seconds later.

"Tell me EVERYTHING!" he said panting.

Harry grinned and lay down on his bed, his hands behind his head.

"Nothing much to tell you know."

Blaise narrowed his eyes. "Nothing much? She just freaking gave you a flying kiss!"

"Yes she did," said Harry calmly.

Blaise goggled at him. "So did you kiss her for real or not!?"

To his great surprise Harry actually turned a light shade of red.

"You did, didn't you, you sly dog," he said in delight.

"Not exactly," he muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"First swear to me you what you hear now, you will never _ever_ mention to me or anyone else ever!"

Blaise's eyes widened. What in Merlin's name could have happened to make Harry this embarrassed, he wondered.

"Roommates honor," he said solemnly.

Harry looked at Blaise critically. "Does that even mean anything?" he asked dryly.

"What goes on in the room stays in the room," said Blaise putting his hand on his heart.

Harry rolled his eyes and jumped on to his bed.

"Well I guess it started of fine. I met her at the gates and we took a carriage with two other Ravenclaw's to the village."

Blaise folded his legs on his bed and looked on with rapt attention.

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes and plowed on with his story.

"After that it was like a normal date I guess. We went to Honeydukes first and had a bite out of almost all the chocolates for which I had to pay I might add."

"The guy is always supposed to pay Harry!"

"Don't interrupt," said Harry sharply. "Anyway, then we went to all these weird small stores which sold fake jewelry, some allegedly sold enchanted pendent's and there was this funny store which sold kitchen items which do their own jobs!"

"So you two had a good time then?"

"Yeah, we did. Until we entered that accursed Gladrags store! I don't know what got into her but we spent literally two hours in that place which was spent by her trying on every thing that her hand could reach and I was supposed to choose the best one out of thirty dress robes which all looked the same except for their color," said Harry waving his hands animatedly.

"At last we left that store and checked out all the other stores. We even went near the shrieking shack but Daphne refused to go within 100 feet of it.

Finally we made our way to the three broomsticks. We had agreed we'd leave that place for last."

"Did you see what Rosmerta was wearing!?" asked Blaise excitedly.

"Oh yeah," breathed Harry forgetting his story for a moment. "That was practically cruel on her part."

"I know," muttered Blaise. "Either she should cover herself up completely or wear nothing at all. She shouldn't wear something as teasing as _that!_ But didn't Daphne mind you staring at her? I mean you _were_ on a date with her."

"Oh she was too busy bitching about the other guys who were staring at her to notice me too," said Harry grinning.

"Nice!"

Suddenly Harry's happy expression turned sour.

"What? What happened after that!?"

Harry sighed. "We chose to walk back instead of taking the carriages. And on the way back she pulled me behind a couple of tree's."

"OH MY GOD!"

Harry grimaced. "What happened next was pretty embarrassing and later shocking."

"What happened!?" asked Blaise eagerly leaning forward.

" _Weeelll_ , she asked me if I enjoyed myself and I said yes." Harry took a deep breath. "Then she leaned forward to kiss me and I leaned back."

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Blaise screamed jumping to his feet.

Harry was glad he had locked and silenced the room.

"I leaned back," snapped Harry turning red.

Blaise opened his mouth to _express_ his disbelief but Harry cut him off.

"Of course she couldn't believe that I did that and looked very hurt herself and so I leaned forward before she could react and kissed her instead."

Blaise this time remained silent with his mouth wide open and slowly sank back on his bed.

"So you dramatically kissed her," whispered Blaise in awe.

Harry didn't say anything and instead of looking pleased to have had his first kiss he looked rather dull.

Blaise didn't fail to notice this.

"So you kissed one of the best looking girls in our year. Why the long face?"

Harry sighed. "Because the first words out of her mouth after I kissed her were, how cold my lips were."

"H-how cold your lips were?"

Instead of explaining Harry just stuck out his hand and asked Blaise to touch it.

Blaise slowly extended his hand forward as if he were afraid his hand would get burnt and gasped in shock on making contact with his hand and withdrew it as fast as he could.

"H-Harry, you're literally freezing!"

"Hmmm… she reacted much better than you. At least she seemed to think I was really cold and even suggested we go to a broom cupboard to warm up," said Harry with wry grin.

Blaise didn't know what to say. On one hand he was stunned, no super stunned that his best friend had kissed a girl and on the other hand he was shocked at how _cold_ he was! It was simply unnatural!

Suddenly a grin spread on Blaise's face.

"So it wasn't that she was revolted by your kiss _and_ body temperature but wanted you to get warmer so that you could kiss her again."

Harry tried to smile but it didn't work. For the first time in his life he wished he were just a normal average wizard. It was much too frustrating to think that he couldn't kiss a girl or even let them touch him after liking it so much.

He wanted to shout and scream at the unfairness of his plight.

"Well maybe its temporary," said Blaise reassuringly sensing that Harry was close to exploding. "Maybe it's a sort of transition or something."

"Yeah, maybe," replied Harry glumly.

His expression turned even sourer even the clock in the common room rang out loud nine times reminding him of his meeting with Austin.

"This day couldn't get any worse," he mumbled dejectedly. "I see you later Blaise, I got some stuff to do," he said and walked out of the room leaving a slightly confused Blaise behind.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

By the time Harry reached Moaning Myrtles bathroom it was already fifteen minutes past nine and he spotted Lillian waiting for him impatiently.

"You're late," she said angrily. "For a moment I thought you were playing a prank on me and sent me here for the fun of it!"

"Don't need to act up Freckles, I'm just fifteen minutes late," he snapped back.

"Try spending ten minutes with that crazy ghost and then tell me whether fifteen minutes is not much!"

Harry didn't have a retort for that and slowly a smile spread across his face.

"Touché," he said with a slight tilt of his head.

Lillian huffed appearing mollified. "So care to tell me why we're here?"

"This," he said with a grand flourish of his hands, "Is where the entrance to…"

He was interrupted when someone rushed in.

Harry hated being surprised. So it was no shock to him that he hand his wand digging to the intruder's neck while slamming him into the nearby wall.

Except it was a her judging from the cry of pain that left her mouth.

"Hermione! What on earth are you doing here!?" cried Lillian. "Harry let her go!"

Harry slowly moved back. His expression was slowly changing from surprise to fury.

"You told your damn friend's where you were going!?" he hissed.

"No I didn't," shot back Lillian looking angry herself. "What the hell are you doing here Hermione!?"

"I followed you. You've been disappearing almost every night since you've come back and I was worried about you! And now I see that you're sneaking around in bathrooms with Potter!?" she said and shot a venomous look at Harry.

"Hermione, it's not what you think!"

"Austin," said Harry breathing slowly and deeply. "Get this bitch out of here before I throw her out myself."

"I'm not about to leave her alone with _you_ , snake," sneered back Hermione.

"Don't kill her, don't kill her," Harry muttered to himself under his breath.

"Hermione, this is none of your business and you had no right to follow me!" said Lillian walking swiftly towards her friend.

"How could it not be my business," shot back Hermione. "You've hardly slept in your own dorm ever since your trip to the other world."

This was news to Harry. Lillian had not been sleeping in her dorm? And wait, what did Hermione say!? He thought to himself.

"You told her!?" he said with a gasp.

"I told her and Ron," she said irritably. "It wasn't just your secret to keep and I can tell whomever I damn want to."

Harry took a deep calming breath. "Austin, your friend has got five seconds to leave before I loose it."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Hermione stubbornly. "I want to know what's going on here and the two of you are meeting in secret."

"Nothing's going on here Buck tooth," spat Harry leveling his wand at her. "Now leave before I make you leave," he threatened.

Lillian groaned. She knew how stubborn Hermione could be and she knew Harry's patience was wearing thin.

"Harry wait," she said quickly. "She could help us you know."

"And how can she help us?" asked Harry acidly.

"She's brainy, she's read loads of books regarding the founders. She could find out something that we might miss or you know…"

"Founders?" said Hermione interestedly temporarily forgetting her mission.

"And you're okay with what she might find out down there?" Harry asked her with raised eyebrows.

Lillian understood what he meant.

She went to him and whispered in his ear so that Hermione wouldn't listen. "We'll be extra careful and you know she won't leave."

Harry sighed. "Alright, we've wasted enough time as it is," he said and went to the tap with the snake engraved on it and hissed ' _open_ ' in Parseltongue.

Both girls looked on in surprise and wonder as the sink began to spin rapidly and slowly sink out of sight to reveal the entrance to the legendary Chamber of Secrets.

"Is that what I think it is?" breathed Hermione in excitement.

"Get in," Harry said shortly.

"Into that smelly hole," asked Lillian cringing at the smell that was coming from the hole.

"Yes," replied Harry and suddenly shoved Hermione in, who was peering inside with her wand lit.

Her scream resonated loudly through the pipe walls as she went down.

Lillian rounded on Harry, her eyes burning in anger and horror.

Harry just smiled. "Your turn," he said cheerfully and pushed her head first into the slimy pipe with a wave of his hand.

He sighed in pleasure as he heard her scream decreased in volume as she went sliding down.

"My day just got better," he said to himself and got into the pipe himself.


	36. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34 – The Chamber**

After twenty seconds of high speed traveling in a dark smelly nearly vertical pipe Harry was thrown out, but knowing what to expect he quickly cast a cushioning spell at the wall in front of him preventing him a lot of pain.

The same couldn't be said to the other two.

Hermione was holding her face in pain and Lillian was massaging her side silently muttering swear words.

Harry was surprised to see that the torches he had lit the last time he was down here were still burning strongly.

"You bastard," growled Lillian in pain while resisting the urge to burn him to crisp. "Why did you do that?"

Hermione too looked at Harry with such loathing that she forgot the terror that was coursing through her body just a few minutes ago.

"We were wasting too much time. It was the only way to get you moving," he said with a shrug. "Now if you're down trying to intimidate me with your glares, let's get moving."

Hermione's fear returned. "Go where Mary!?"

Lillian sighed. She didn't want Hermione to be here. Hermione didn't know she was a Parselmouth and a fire elemental to boot.

She knew Harry had decided to bring Hermione along just to see her squirm and she could do nothing about it… yet. Bloody bastard, she cursed in her mind.

"Let's go," said Harry leading the way down the narrow path.

Suddenly Hermione squeaked and hugged Lillian tightly. "The floor," she said in a high pitched tone. "It's covered it bones!"

"Of course it's covered in bones," said Harry patronizingly. "The basilisk does need something to eat doesn't she?"

This time both the girls clutched each other tightly in fear.

"There's a basilisk down here!?" they squeaked.

"Oh don't worry, I killed it last year," he added nonchalantly.

The two chose not to reply to that one and rather watch where they put their feet. Neither of them wanted to hear the sound of bones being crushed under their feet.

"So tell me Granger," began Harry conversationally. "Were you really worried about where Austin's whereabouts or were you too suspicious about her disappearances?"

"What's it to you?" asked Hermione defensively.

"Oh, I'm just curious that's all," he said. " _Or_ was it that you were angry that she wasn't telling you about her sneaking out and you were too damn curious for your own good?"

"I don't have to answer you," she spat back.

"No Hermione, tell us," said Lillian. "I for one would certainly like to know what is it you thought when you decided to follow me."

Hermione looked hurt. "You actually think I was following you because I _just_ wanted to be let in on your secret?"

"Were you?"

"No!?" she cried indignantly. "I would never do such a thing. I swear I was just worried about you because ever since you've come back, you've not been yourself!"

"Oh," replied Lillian in a small voice feeling a little guilty for doubting her friend.

"So what did you expect to find?" Lillian asked curiously.

This time Hermione looked a little sheepish. "I thought you were crying or something and needed a friend."

Harry raised his eyebrows at that and Lillian stopped in her tracks stunned.

"You thought I was crying or _something_!? _Me_ of all people! Why?"

"I thought you were sad about your not existing in the other world and maybe you were emotionally hurt or _something_ ," she said sounding embarrassed. "You looked perfectly fine in class and all through the day so I thought you were letting it all out at night, alone."

Harry was trying hard not to burst out into laughter.

"Oh, Hermione," said Lillian with a smile and went and hugged her. (Harry gagged) "I'm fine, and every night I just go out to explore the castle and sometimes I find some empty classroom to practice the classes I've missed to catch up!"

Lies, thought Harry silently. She was practicing her elemental ability.

"We're here," announced Harry when they reached the wall.

"Is that a statue of Salazar Slytherin?" asked Lillian.

"Yes," was the short reply.

"And the woman?" she asked next.

"Probably his wife," muttered Hermione when Harry didn't answer her question.

" _Open_ " hissed Harry in Parseltongue.

And just like before, the wall shimmered out of existence without a sound.

They entered the chamber cautiously.

Both girls looked around in wonder at the massive stone ceiling and the number of statues all around them.

"Certainly was obsessed with himself," said Lillian.

"I agree," said Hermione. "This place must be filled with statues of him."

Harry resisted the urge to throttle them and beckoned Lillian forward.

"What?" she asked.

Harry didn't bother replying again and instead dispelled the charm hiding the ring on her finger with a tap of his wand.

Hermione gasped. "Is that a ring on your finger!?"

"No, it's her bones sticking out," said Harry sarcastically.

Lillian huffed in annoyance. "Yes, it's a ring Hermione. And that's part of the reason why we're down here."

Hermione was confused. She had no idea what was going on. Her mind was filled with so many questions that she didn't know which one to ask first.

Luckily Harry was thin on patience and decided to give her some food for thought.

"The ring your friend is wearing belonged to Salazar Slytherin and only a person related to Slytherin can wear it," he said making her eyes widen in horror and keep her mouth shut while she processed the information.

"Now why is this damn thing not coming out even now!?" said Harry in frustration while holding Lillian's finger next to the statue were it had to be put in.

"How do I know!?" snapped Lillian. "I've been trying to get the bloody thing off ever since I put it on!"

"Well you wouldn't have to if you had decided against putting it on."

"You really think I wanted this!?" said Lillian angrily.

"Maybe!"

"Does this mean you're Slytherin's heir!?" said Hermione suddenly.

There were simultaneous shouts of YES and NO at the same time.

Harry and Lillian were glaring at each other furiously when they heard Hermione giggle!

Both elementals turned slowly towards the bushy haired girl looking menacing.

"Is something funny Granger?" growled Harry.

Hermione continued to smile broadly. "Oh I'm sorry!" she said, still giggling. "But you two look so… _so_ adorable while fighting with each other."

There was dead silence. While Hermione kept smiling at them Harry and Lillian stood as still as the statues in the chamber while their respective minds took time to understand the words that just left Hermione's mouth.

Harry was the first one to come out of his stunned stupor.

"I'll choose to ignore that," he said breathing heavily. Those words had certainly left him shaken. Never had he ever… EVER imagined that some dumb girl would say he looked freaking adorable while arguing with Freckles.

"Those words just left terrible scars on me," muttered Lillian. "And instead of sprouting nonsense Hermione, why the hell don't you HELP!" she said raising her voice.

Hermione bit her lip trying to hold in her laughter. But she hurried to Lillian's side before said girl would explode in anger.

She tried pulling it out but it had the same result.

"We've tried everything Granger," said Harry tiredly. "The bloody thing just won't come off."

Hermione frowned while her mind was racing for answers and suddenly it was like a bulb just lit in her head.

"Of course!" she cried out.

"What!?"

Looking tremendously excited she took Lillian's hand in hers and gently pushed the ring further in before gently slipping it out.

"Holy mother of god!" said Harry softly. "How the hell did you think of that!?"

Lillian was beyond shocked.

"Have you heard of the Chinese finger trap!?" she asked them grinning broadly.

Harry shook his head in negative while Lillian's eyes widened in dawning comprehension.

"Why the hell didn't I think of that!?" she said slapping her forehead.

"Because you're dumb that's why," snapped Harry. "What am I missing here!?" he shouted.

"The Chinese finger trap is a toy," began Hermione. "It's like a rubber cylinder open at both ends. You put two person's index fingers in each end and tell them to remove it but no matter how hard you pull, it just won't come off!"

"And to remove it you have to push your fingers in to widen the hole," said Harry in realization.

"I told you she'd be helpful," said Lillian smugly.

Harry ignored the jab. "Slip the ring on the finger with the depression in it on that statue," he said pointing at the correct one.

With baited breath Lillian slowly levitated the ring and slipped it into its place.

And again, like before, the ring began to glow red before the statue sank into the floor revealing a door behind it.

"Place your hand on that handprint," whispered Harry feeling a thrill of anticipation run through him.

Hermione caught Lillian's hand before she could go. "Maybe you shouldn't," she said fearfully.

Lillian gave her a reassuring look and stretched out her palm slowly towards the door.

Harry meanwhile had his wand ready if she got blasted back.

Harry held his breath when Lillian placed her hand in place. Lillian too had her eyes closed but all of them let out a heavy sigh when the door slowly creaked open.

"Well that was dramatic," said Lillian with a relieved laugh. "For a moment I thought the whole chamber would explode!"

"Well this only cements the fact that you're related to Slytherin," said Harry.

"But she's a Gryffindor!" protested Hermione.

Harry sighed. "Argue all you want but at the moment I'd like to enter that room!"

"Ladies first," he said politely to the two girls.

Lillian simply rolled her eyes. She lit her wand and entered the room. Hermione followed her, though she looked terrified at the thought.

There was a loud gasp from inside before Harry could enter.

"Look at all these books!" said Hermione in delight.

Excitedly Harry hurried forward but as soon as he took a step inside the room he was blown back with tremendous force.

He slammed into the wall at the other end making a few cracks in it and slid down half unconscious.

Hearing the noise Lillian and Hermione ran out and hurried to Harry's side.

"Are you alright Harry," came the concerned voice of Lillian.

"Wha~?" was the intelligent reply as Harry's eyes drooped.

Lillian slapped him hard getting him to open his eyes.

"What happened?"

"Got blasted back," mumbled Harry.

His senses were coming back to him and the first thing that registered was that his back and cheek hurt like hell.

Wincing he stood up and blinked twice trying to get his bearings right.

"Why did you get blown back?" questioned Hermione.

"I don't know," said Harry. "But I'm going to try again."

He cast a cushioning charm on the wall and strode towards the door and again, as soon as he tried to step in he was blown back.

Lillian and Hermione looked at him questioningly not really understanding what was going on.

Even Harry had no clue why he was being rejected from the room when Hermione had entered without a problem.

"This is unbelievable," he muttered.

"Why weren't you able to enter?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know!" snapped Harry angrily.

Lillian looked at him with an amused expression on her face. "So what now?" she asked him.

Harry sighed feeling his anger disappear. "Now you and Granger go in there and bring whatever's inside outside."

"Do we look like we're going to do your dirty work," she said annoyed.

"It's important," said Harry shortly.

Lillian looked like she wanted to argue but one look from Harry changed her mind.

She nodded and signaled Hermione to follow her.

"Why are we listening to him again?" Hermione asked Lillian.

Lillian just shrugged. "Let's just get the books out."

Both the girls entered the room which had a single torch bracket burning. It was enough to illuminate the entire room which was not very big.

There was a single shelf in a corner and a table, chair and a strange black bowl with some silvery substance in it.

"What's in there!?" they heard Harry yell.

"Nothing much," called back Lillian. "About fifteen to twenty books on a shelf, a table, chair and some weird black bowl."

"It's a pensive," said Hermione in awe. "I've only read about them in books."

Harry's head jerked up when he heard that. There was a pensive in there which most likely held the memories of Salazar Slytherin!

"Okay, bring everything out!"

A minute later Hermione came out holding the bowl like it were a new born baby and Lillian was behind her levitating all the books in front of her.

The minute Harry laid eyes on the books his began to vibrate and a single word passed through his head.

" _Evil."_

This was the real thing, thought Harry. The few original copies of the dark arts books created by evil.

Harry took a step closer to the books and he could practically feel the foulness emitting from the books.

There was only one thing to do them.

"Put them down," he said softly to Lillian.

Lillian directed the books in front of him and put them down. Hermione put the pensive down carefully and ran towards the books looking excited but Harry caught her and pushed her away roughly before drawing his wand.

"Incendio!" said Harry clearly causing all the books to burst into flames.

"What are you doing!?" shouted Hermione in horror while Lillian just looked on, shocked.

Hermione ran forward and was about to stop the flames when her wand shot of her hand and into Harry's.

"It's none of your concern," he said firmly.

"Those books could hold precious knowledge!" she shouted, distressed.

"Those books contain unimaginable dark magic," he said.

"You can't destroy them," said Hermione angrily.

Before Harry could reply, a stunning spell erupted from Lillian's wand and hit Hermione.

Harry raised his eyebrows at Lillian who just raised her eyebrow's at him and turned back to look and the books crumble and turn to ash..

"There's nothing else inside right?" he asked.

"Just an empty shelf and an empty table," she replied. "Are we done here?"

Harry nodded. All the books had been reduced to a pile of ashes. He took picked up the black pensive and told Lillian to bring Hermione along without waking her.

Lillian removed the ring from the statue which had risen back up and followed Harry out of the chamber.

"I have a theory as to why you couldn't enter the room," said Lillian suddenly as they walked back to the entrance.

"Hmmm?"

"Maybe Slytherin had something against your ancestors and prevented anyone of their blood from entering his private domain."

"That's an interesting theory," said Harry casually. Actually the same thought was running through Harry's mind as well. Him being unable to enter the room had only reinforced his theory that his family had some dark secret that they were hiding and it was the same secret which James Potter had refused to learn.

"Do you think it's possible?" asked Lillian snapping him out of his thoughts.

"If that's true then it might also mean that anyone except for me can wear that ring and enter that room."

Lillian's heart skipped a beat. "So it could mean I'm not his descendent."

"I guess so, maybe you should make Granger try it on once to make sure," replied Harry. "We're here," he added when they reached the entrance.

"How do we get up?"

"Stand next to me and keep Granger close to you," he said.

Once they were directly under the pipe Harry closed his eyes and concentrated.

Lillian's eyes widened when the ground around them began to crackle and form a thin layer of ice.

Suddenly the ice began to rise taking them along with it. To her it felt like a miniature earth quake in the which the ground she stood on was steadily rising. She half expected to hear a ting like an elevator when they reached the bathroom.

Lillian gave a sigh of relief. "I guess we can go back now."

"You might want to wake Hermione," said Harry grinning. "I don't think she's going to be pleased with what you did."

"You think!?" she said sarcastically and drew her wand and pointed it at Hermione. " _Ennervate_!"

Hermione awoke groaning and Lillian helped her to her feet.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"Granger!" called out Harry suddenly.

"Wha~?"

"You were really helpful down there but I am sorry for this," he said, not sounding sorry at all.

And before either of the Gryffindor's could realize what was going to happen, Harry had drawn his wand and sent a memory charm her way.

Lillian was horrified. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" she all but screamed.

"Secrets are not meant to be shared Lillian," he said firmly. "Granger will be fine. I just erased her memories of the chamber and meeting me and replaced them with her thinking she was consoling you."

Her anger disappeared as fast as it came and was replaced with confusion.

"Consoling me?"

"She thinks you've been crying in here," he said with a grin. He glanced at Hermione who was just beginning to be aware of her surroundings.

"I'll leave you to deal with her! Cheerio!" he said.

"No! Harry wait!" she cried desperately but Harry was gone.

"It's alright Mary, I'm here for you," said Hermione sympathetically.

"Huh?"

"Just let it all out and you'll feel a lot better," she said placing her hand on Lillian's shoulder.

Lillian felt like wringing Hermione's neck. "Oh shut up Hermione!" she snapped at the girl and walked out of the bathroom in a huff.

Confused Hermione hurried after the angry elemental. She couldn't understand why Lillian wouldn't talk to her.

"Mary wait!" shouted Hermione. "I just want to help!"


	37. A quick Summary

**A Quick Summary.**

 **.** The story starts of with a brief scene showing a man whom we all know to be Nicolas Flamel working on a potion. An instrument alerts him about the presence of two new elementals in the world **.** and it is sort of his job to enlighten them about their powers and what they can do when the time is right.

 **.** On the night of Voldemort's defeat Harry is left at the footsteps of the Dursley's residence after Albus Dumbledore puts a block on his magic and erects the most powerful wards in existence around the neighborhood. (Albus is not a bad person. Manipulative, yes. He placed a block on Harry knowing the child was powerful and could cause lot of problems around him due to accidental magic.)

 **.** For the next five years Harry grows up being mistreated and bullied by Dudley and his gang.

 **.** Harry keeps having dreams about magic and things that seem impossible but on his 6th birthday a more vivid dream changes everything.

 **.** Dudley and his friends begin to beat up Harry and when Dudley is about to kick Harry in the face, Harry has a burst of accidental magic and blows Dudley. Harry is terrified and runs to the park and makes an effort to calm himself. It is then he realizes that blasting Dudley back may not have been an accident.

 **.** Not knowing anything about magic Harry tries to use his power but does not have any success for more than a month much to his frustration and anger. In my story wand less magic is impossible but because of Harry's power and because he tried to channel his magic unknowingly at such a young age he finally succeeded in levitating a piece of paper for barely two seconds.

 **.** It took Harry three long years to gain some sort of control over his powers and with that he decided to fight back and used his magic to threaten the Dursley's and had a relatively normal life until his Hogwarts letter arrived.

 **.** Because of the newfound freedom Harry had, he becomes slightly arrogant and thinks nothing can harm him because of the power he has. Also due to the poor treatment he received at the hands of the Dursley's, he becomes cold and distant and doesn't have any friends.

 **.** The only time Harry acted really childish was when he met McGonagall for the first time and was really excited about entering the wizarding world.

 **.** McGonagall also brings along Lillian Austin, a muggleborn witch along with Harry to Diagon alley. Harry and Lillian don't get along somewhat. {NOTE: Lillian has black hair.}

 **.** On their visit to Ollivander's the holly and phoenix wand chooses Lillian to the wand maker's surprise and the Elder Wand chooses Harry. Here Dumbledore gives the elder wand to Ollivander because he was happier with his own wand.

 **.** Ollivander then explains both the wands histories to the two and after a demonstration of Harry's wandless ability he makes Lillian promise not to tell anyone about Harry's wand and his ability and warns Harry to keep it a secret. Lillian is awed by Harry's power though she keeps it to herself.

 **.** Harry boards the Hogwarts express on September 1st and meets Blaise Zabini who becomes a good friend of his.

 **.** On arriving at Hogwarts Harry is sorted into Slytherin and Lillian into Gryffindor.

 **.** Harry does not get into the Quidditch team after his first flying lesson.

 **.** He does not attend the Halloween feast feeling a deep sense of loss and wanders around the castle and bumps into Lillian. They sit and talk and Lillian says her mother died on Halloween too, the same day Harry defeated Voldemort. Then the troll attacks and is about to strike Harry with a death blow when his wand comes to his rescue and tell him to use a curse. Harry does so and then looses consciousness.

 **.** When Harry looses consciousness his mind is pulled into his magical core by his wand to talk to him. Here the wand explains the true history behind the wand. But because of the block Dumbledore put on Harry, the wand, which has a core of its own, had to force its way through the block to help Harry. Because of that the spell which Dumbledore used on Harry being volatile in nature mixes with Voldemort's soul which is stuck in Harry and begin to spread slowly devouring Harry's magical core which would eventually result in his death.

. Later during Christmas Harry and Lillian have fight for which their punishment was to share a room until the end of the Christmas holidays. Dumbledore wanted them to learn to get along but obviously it didn't work.

 **.** Lillian, Ron and Hermione figure out everything about the philosopher's stone and decided to stop Snape from stealing the stone. Lillian runs into Harry while Ron and Hermione are held up by Neville. Lillian convinces Harry to accompany her even though Harry is completely against it and wants to go to Snape's office first. Harry then meets Quirrell and Voldemort. Quirrell tries to kill Harry but is burned to ash when he touches Harry.

 **.** Slytherin win the house cup and thus ends Harry's first year in Hogwarts.

 **.** During the summer before the start of his second year Dobby comes to prevent Harry from going to Hogwarts. At that time Harry was desperately looking for a way to remove the block on his magic which was killing him and sudden inspiration struck him after reading a book on the legend of elves and he asked Dobby if he could remove the block on his magic. Incredibly Dobby says yes and removes the block placed on him along with the piece of Voldemort's soul in him no longer making him a horcrux. Because of the time Voldemort's soul was present in Harry, some of it powers were absorbed by Harry's magic thus giving him the ability to speak to snakes. Also his ruthlessness can also be blamed on Voldemort's soul E.g.: when he attacked the Dursley's.

 **.** Harry goes to Gringotts and finds out about his family vaults after innocently inquiring about his bank balance. The goblins do not treat him like royalty but like any other customer. Harry visits vaults and later has a short meeting with the Weasley's and Lillian.

 **.** Ginny is sorted to Slytherin much to the shock of the Weasley's and pretty much the entire school.

 **.** Harry tries out for the Quidditch team and becomes the new seeker. He shows Blaise his water ability and Blaise enlightens him about elementals and Harry finally finds out what he is.

 **.** During the dueling club Harry is paired with Lillian and they fight. The duel is easily won by Harry but then it turns out Lillian is a fire elemental and she loses control. Harry is forced to use his element to push her back and after a great effort, he manages to subdue her flames.

 **.** Lillian and Ron use polyjuice to enter the Slytherin common room and find out harry is a Parselmouth. Even more shockingly it turns out Lillian is one too! (Cliché isn't it!?) It is not revealed how Lillian can speak the snake language.

 **.** Harry is taken to Dumbledore's office after Fred and George are petrified instead of Justin. Dumbledore tells Harry he does not think he is the heir but wants to talk to him because he found a book belonging to Harry filled with dark curses. Harry and Dumbledore have a long chat which makes Harry lose his temper and almost lose control of his element.

 **.** After Harry's detention with Lockhart, the defense teacher is escorting Harry back to the common room when they encounter a possessed Ginny Weasley. She kills Lockhart and then duels Harry who after using his element to kill the basilisk destroys the diary and gets badly wounded in the process.

 **.** When Ginny/Tom uses the killing curse the headmaster is alerted and is ready to go and investigate but Fawkes for some particular reason stops the headmaster and tells him to wait. (Hmmm…. Wonder why?)

 **.** Back at the Dursley's place Marge makes Harry lose his cool and he attacks them viciously. Petunia in fear shoots Harry in the shoulder. He escapes and barely makes it to the playground before losing consciousness. Sirius finds him and takes him to Grimmauld Place.

 **.** Harry awakens and is ready to kill Sirius but he restrains himself and lets Sirius tell his side of the story. After much pleading on Sirius's part Harry finally believes him.

 **.** On the Hogwarts express when the dementors come aboard, they barely affect Harry. He doesn't feel cold like the rest and he does not pass out. But he does hear a woman screaming from afar. The dementors do not affect Harry because being the master of the elder wand, the wand places a barrier around Harry's mind (The shields are not very powerful but they are enough to prevent a gentle probe).

 **.** Harry enters the chamber of secrets and finds a hidden room but is unable to enter it for some reason.

 **.** After charms class Harry stops Lillian and wants to talk to her. Unfortunately Hermione who was running to catch up with Ron and Lillian while putting her time turner in was tripped by Draco and the time turner breaks at Harry and Lillian's feet sprinkling them with time dust. Harry, not knowing what it was uses a cleaning spell and suddenly everything changes. They are transported to an alternate universe.

 **.** They end up in the original Harry Potter world.

 **.** Because they left their world things begin to change. Peter Pettigrew leaves Hogwarts when he hears about Harry's disappearance and Lucius Malfoy also decides it's time to look for his lord and bring him back to power.

 **.** Harry finds out the Mona Lisa is intact in the world he is in and decides to steal it with the help of Sirius. They manage to do so and after examining it they use Harry's blood and a silver stone emerges from it which is a portkey to the Potter's ancestral home.

 **.** Lillian finds out her element is acting unstable because she is hitting puberty.

 **.** Dumbledore in Harry's world finds out a way to bring Harry back and sends a letter through the dimension portal as a test, but because of the unpredictability of the portal, the letter ends up with the other Dumbledore a year before Harry and Lillian end up there which means he all along knew how to send the two back but chose not to for reasons of his own.

 **.** Voldemort is resurrected using an ancient dark ritual sacrificing Barty Crouch's soul and takes over his body and two weeks later Sirius Black is interrogated under the influence of veritaserum and is declared innocent.

 **.** Dumbledore sends Harry and Lillian through the portal and they come back to their own world at the same time they left.

 **.** The Flamel's take care of them and train them for as long as they were stuck in the other world and then send them back to Hogwarts.

 **.** At the end of their training Harry and Lillian have a duel in which Harry holds back considerably to test Lillian's capabilities. He underestimates her and gets wounded before using runic magic to trap her and stun her. He does not use his full power because he doesn't want to reveal what he has learnt with Perenelle Flamel.


	38. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35 - Harry and Albus**

Harry Potter walked silently in the dark corridors making his way to his very secret room with a satisfied smile on his face.

He didn't feel an ounce of guilt for modifying Hermione's memory at all. In his mind she rather deserved it for being too nosy. Added to that he didn't want anyone knowing where the chamber of secrets was and most importantly he didn't trust her big mouth to stay shut for long.

His heart was thumping hard and fast because of the excitement and thrill he felt holding Salazar Slytherin's pensive and getting the chance to see what the founders were like and finding out whether history was right or wrong about the history of Salazar Slytherin.

"It's been a while Harry darling!" came the sweet and melodious sound of Ariel the stone mermaid which concealed his room.

Harry just rolled his eyes and kissed her. He no longer felt embarrassed doing that.

Giggling the mermaid jumped aside and Harry entered the room.

He placed the black pensive on his table and sat on his bed feeling very drained all of a sudden. He wanted to just lie down and sleep but the excitement of viewing Slytherin's memories kept him awake.

A hoot alerted him of Hedwig's presence at the edge of the bed with a letter tied to her foot. One glance at the elegant handwriting and Harry knew it was from Sirius.

He removed the letter while giving the owl an affectionate pat and put it aside. He'd read it later.

But first things first.

From what he remembered about pensives one had to touch the surface of the liquid memories to view them. Feeling the excitement begin to bubble inside him, Harry moved to his table and slowly stretched his fingers into the pensive until it touched the memories.

But nothing happened. Ripples emerged from the place he put finger in and nothing else.

Frowning Harry tried again but there was no change.

"Don't tell me I can't even enter his pensive!" he said with a groan and his excitement turned to disappointment and frustration.

"Damn it all to hell!" he shouted in anger. Cursing under his breath Harry headed to his book shelf looking for the book in which he had read about how a pensive works.

"Ah-ha! Here it is," he said. "Forbidden and Forgotten Runes."

He pulled out the small tome and skipped to the section regarding pensives.

"Making a pensive requires great care and skill. It takes a little over three years to make one and… blah, blah, blah," muttered Harry as he scrolled down the page looking for something to help him. "Wizards with great skill can sometimes embed their own characteristics into the pensive allowing only a descendent of same blood to enter. Such pensive's cannot be accessed by any other person unless given a key word by the creator of the pensive."

Harry stared at that paragraph with complete defeat in his eyes.

He just couldn't believe it. It was simply too much to handle. After having to go through so much trouble to get Lillian to the chamber, then having to put up with Hermione, then being unable to enter Slytherin's private room and now not being able to view those memories!

Words couldn't describe what Harry was feeling right now.

Sighing he summoned the compass Nicolas had given him to see if the reading had reduced but to his dismay it had increased by five percent. Wasn't burning those books supposed to reduce the reading!

Harry slowly backed away from his desk and sank his head into his pillow and closed his eyes.

"Please let tomorrow be a better day," he thought before drifting to sleep.

Unfortunately the next day was going to be another trying day too for it was going to bring news of Voldemort's latest devastating attack.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was half past eight when Harry's eyes finally opened from a blissful sleep. Yawning, he dragged his body out of bed before his eyes spotted the time on his watch.

"Aww, damn!" he cursed loudly.

It was almost nine by the time he was ready and he ran out of the room and sprinted all the way down to the great hall. Usually when he slept in his private room he always made sure to be back in the common room before six in the morning to avoid suspicion.

Unfortunately yesterday's events had left him quite exhausted and now he was going to receive a lot of questions from a lot of inquisitive idiots. Hopefully Blaise would have covered up for him.

So when Harry reached the great hall he was surprised that no one at the Slytherin table bothered to even glance his way.

Taking a moment to catch his breath he slowly headed to where Blaise was seated and on his way he noticed the entire school was down and all of them had their noses buried in the daily prophet and those who didn't were glaring at the Slytherin table.

He also noticed that some of the Slytherin's had gleeful looks on their faces and Malfoy was exceptionally happy.

The entire staff was gathered too and Harry realized that something bad must have happened and he knew it had to do with the sudden increase in the reading of his compass.

"Did you see this Harry?" asked Blaise when Harry took a seat next to him.

"See what?" asked Harry apprehensively.

"The dark lord attacked muggle London last night," he said. "More than 400 people are said to have been killed."

"What!" gasped Harry.

"Yeah," said Blaise solemnly. "But that's not all. Muggles were able to record the whole incident and the whole country and world was able to see what happened."

"He attacked in broad daylight risking the exposure of our world!"

"The Prophet says that was the idea of the attack. All the magical ministries all over the world have been working overtime to modify god only knows how many peoples memories and the muggle government is saying that it was a fake video tape… whatever that means."

Harry was horrified at the thought of the exposure of their world to muggles. A little voice at the back of his mind was saying he should he horrified at the loss of life too.

"What are the muggles going to do now?" asked Harry.

Blaise shrugged. "I guess the Minister Bones might have convinced the Prime minister not to declare war on us. But another attack on them and they will be well within their rights to retaliate."

"Retaliate without a fixed target?" said Harry with raised eyebrows.

"That's why it's so scary," said Nott suddenly in his soft yet bitter voice. "They could attack anywhere at any time without any thought to whether the person is innocent or not. They will be looking to spill blood. That's all."

"So we're going to be stuck in two wars soon," said Harry with a snort.

"Looks like it," said Nott.

Harry looked towards Malfoy and was disgusted to see him laughing with Flint and most of the other Slytherin's while reading the article.

Tearing his eyes away from them Harry stood up. "Let's get to class," he said motioning the other two to join him.

But in class Harry could not concentrate.

He could not help but wonder if he should have done something to stop the dark lord. It was his responsibility wasn't it? But how could he have known of the attack. And even if he did could he have stopped Voldemort? Was he strong enough to take on the dark lord? Sure he had his elemental power to back him up but Voldemort had decades of experience and dark magic to back _him_ up.

So if there was nothing he could have done then why did he feel there was a bottomless pit of regret in him?

"Mr. Potter!"

The voice was like a crack of a whip in the dark to Harry and he was jerked out of his thought process.

"Yes, Professor Lupin?"

"Can you please enlighten the class about what we were just discussing?" Lupin asked sternly.

"No sir," replied Harry.

Lupin was thrown off guard by the reply but managed to compose himself. "What do you mean no Mr. Potter?"

"I was day dreaming," said Harry causing the Slytherin's to start laughing.

Lupin frowned in disapproval. "Ten points from Slytherin and detention with me tonight at 9 'o' clock."

By the end of the last class which was transfiguration, Harry had three detentions and had lost over fifty points for his house.

He simply couldn't bring his mind to not think about Voldemort. He had even thought about taking the fight to Voldemort by finding his base and attacking him. He was confident that he could take everyone out with his element but he also knew it was too rash a plan and anything could go wrong so it was dismissed immediately.

And now he was on his way to the great hall when he was ambushed by three students whom he really didn't want to meet.

Ronald Weasley, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan.

All three just stood there watching him seriously. Harry didn't know what they wanted and nor did he care. He just wanted to go out of the castle and bring his mind to rest.

Keen to get away from them he tried walking past them but they blocked his path.

Harry narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "What do you three want?"

Naturally Ronald was the one who spoke up. "We want to know where your allegiances lie."

Harry was startled by the question.

"Excuse me?" he asked incredulously.

"You are the boy who lived. When we read about _you know who's_ attack, we couldn't help but think who is going to stop him," said Dean.

"And yours was the first name that came into our minds," said Seamus.

"But you're in the house of snakes and we all know that almost everyone in that house supports you know who. But you could be different because you're the boy who lived," said Ronald. "So we need to know if you're with us or against us."

Of all the things to come out from Ronald Weasley's mouth, this was the last thing he expected. He felt terribly amused but resisted the urge to laugh at them. He respected the fact that they actually came to talk to him despite their hatred for him and his house.

"Would you ask me the same question if I weren't the bloody boy who lived?" Harry asked them in return.

He was replied with a strong 'no' from all three of them.

"I thought not. I will not answer your question unless you treat the Slytherin's with respect and not hatred," he said. "Not everyone from the Slytherin house is a dark wizard."

"They are," spat Ronald. "And so are you if you don't tell us whom you're siding with."

Anger bubbled inside Harry listening to the red heads dim, narrow minded thought process.

"I am against _you,_ Ronald Weasley, that's for sure. So get out of my way before I make you," hissed Harry losing his patience. He had enough on his mind as it is.

All three Gryffindor's took a step back in fear.

"Move," growled Harry drawing his wand.

"No," said Ron, trying to be brave. "If you're going to side with he who must not be named then we have to stop you!"

Ron drew his wand but Harry had, had enough. Making it look like he was using his wand, he wandlessly pushed them away from him and summoned Weasley's wand to him.

"Please don't piss me of," said Harry irritably. "Your pathetic attempts to intimidate me do not work and stop acting like you're the epitome of goodness in this world."

Sighing, he threw Ronald's wand at his feet.

The Gryffindor's glared at Harry but made no attempt to curse him.

"You should remember that Voldemort killed my family.

Would you follow someone who killed your parents?" he asked them. "Stop trying to be cool and start using that puny brain of yours," he said and swiftly walked away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry's mind was finally at ease. He was sitting under one of the huge banyan tree near the lake watching the other students running and laughing wearing thick clothing to protect them from the chill of December.

Occasionally a few of them would glance weirdly at him wondering how could he just sit there wearing a shirt and pants but Harry didn't care.

Weather like this was heaven for an elemental like him.

He was enjoying the atmosphere when he sensed someone sit down next to him.

"Hi Freckles."

"How many times must I ask you not to call me that," said Lillian exasperatedly.

Harry looked at her and started laughing.

"What's so funny!"

"I can barely see your face under all that clothing."

Lillian rolled her eyes. "Well unlike you, I hate this season and I'm doing whatever I can to make myself warm."

"Why not stay near the fireplace all day?"

"I needed some fresh air," she replied.

"You mean your fellow Gryffindor's have been annoying the crap out of you," he said with a grin.

"You got that right," she muttered. "Hermione seems to be watching my every move like a hawk. She has good intentions but they're a pain in my arse. The rest of the house thinks my friendship with you is unhealthy and apparently you're using me for nefarious purposes!"

Harry snorted.

"And I haven't forgiven you for obliviating Hermione either," she added.

"Like I care," drawled Harry. "She deserved what she got for snooping around."

"She did turn out to be helpful you know," said Lillian lightly defending Hermione's actions.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," said Harry. "I didn't want anyone to know about the chamber. I was even planning on obliviating you too, you know."

Lillian's mouth dropped open in shock. "You wouldn't have!"

"But I changed my mind," said Harry grinning.

"Potter," she said pointing her finger at him in anger, but the effect was lost as she couldn't bend her fingers as they were covered in three layers of thick woolen gloves. "Have you ever wiped my memory!"

Harry pretended to think hard. "If I have I don't remember it."

Lillian huffed. "You're a dick you know that?"

"I do," said Harry solemnly.

"God! It's useless to insult you too!"

Harry started laughing. "Man Freckles, you're just too easy to wind up!"

"Laugh it up you dork," she said grumbling.

Both elementals just sat there looking over the lake.

"I suppose you read the daily prophet today," said Lillian suddenly.

"Blaise told me about it," replied Harry darkly.

"But did you read it?"

"I didn't want to."

"According to the prophet Voldemort was controlling darkness and used it to destroy the bridge and killing everyone around him," she said quietly.

Harry knew what she meant.

"Has the reading increased?"

"Yes," said Harry softly.

"So what are we going to do about it?" she asked him.

Harry sighed and stood up and looked her with an unreadable expression on his face. "I don't know," he whispered.

"I'll see you around Freckles," he said and turned back to the castle. It was seven and Filch and his ever faithful cat, Mrs. Norris would be coming to shoo everyone back to their common rooms.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Harry left the grounds he didn't go back to the common room but was wandering around the castle.

It seemed every time he was in a closed place his mind would repeatedly slither back to Voldemort and right now he was wondering what would happen if Voldemort continued using such magic.

If that was the case than he knew that it wouldn't be long before true evil was unleashed upon the world and he honestly wondered if he could actually fight that kind of a monster.

It took three wizards high on power to bring it down and Harry had the potential to reach to the strength of just one of them so statistically he didn't stand a chance.

But the main question that was running through his head was that could he best Voldemort in a one on one fight.

That thought kept running through his head constantly and when passed by the gargoyles guarding the headmaster's office the answer struck him like a bolt of lighting.

 _He needed help._

But could be bring himself to ignore his past confrontations with Dumbledore and actually talk to him? Tell him the truth about his wand and about what was about to be unleashed on the world?

.

.

.

.

He had to. He might not be in a position to be able to do much but Dumbledore sure was. But in exchange the headmaster was the one he was going to duel to find out where he stood.

The fog that had been shielding his mind for the entire day suddenly lifted and Harry turned towards the gargoyles with a light smile on his face.

"I wish to meet headmaster Dumbledore," he told the gargoyles politely.

There was no visible moment on the gargoyles but Harry could feel the magic shift in them.

A moment or two later the gargoyles jumped aside and Harry strode in stepping on the revolving staircase that led to Dumbledore's office.

"Come in Harry," said Dumbledore before Harry could knock on the ancient door.

Shaking his head in amusement Harry entered the office.

"Ah welcome Harry," said Dumbledore. "Please do take a seat."

Harry obliged.

"May I ask what brings you to my office?"

Harry confidence faltered for a moment as he wondered how he should begin.

"Is there something you want to tell me Harry?"

"Yes sir, there is. But I'm just wondering where to start," said Harry.

"The beginning is usually the best," said Dumbledore with a smile.

Harry rolled his eyes. "In this case there are a lot of places to start from," he muttered. "Professor about Voldemort's attack," he began.

The smile faded from the aged headmasters face. "A terrible tragedy," he said softly.

"Is there any truth to what the prophet is saying about him using a strange power?"

Dumbledore sighed. "I'm afraid it is and I do not know how he obtained it, it has all of us stumped."

"I think I might know," said Harry.

Dumbledore frowned. "What do you mean?"

Harry summoned his wand and placed it on the table.

"It has almost everything to do with this," he said seriously.

The headmasters white eyebrows shot up. "I don't understand."

"Do you remember the day we almost cursed each other?"

"How could I forget," said Dumbledore lightly.

"The deathly hallows are nothing but a story Professor," said Harry making Dumbledore's eyes go wide. "The true story is a bit different from the one everyone else has heard."

"Do explain more clearly Harry."

"They are hallows are real sir, but they do not make you the master of death and they aren't gifts from death either."

"Then what are they?" asked Dumbledore confused.

Harry took a deep breath. "They are gifts given by evil when the three brothers defeated it."

"Gifts from _evil_?" said Dumbledore disbelievingly.

Harry grinned warily, "I guess it does sound really lame but it's the truth. My wand told me."

"Your _wand_ told you? Harry you're not playing games with me are you?"

Harry shook his head and continued.

"This is not a normal wand. It's a very special wand which evil was forced to give to the eldest brother as a gift for sparing its life. The second brother was given the resurrection stone and the third the cloak of invisibility.

These were the things which evil gave them in exchange for its life. Because of their greed for power they let live a creature which would one day come back to power and destroy the world as we know it."

"My wand says the brothers represented the good in the world and that creature represented evil. But I think it was just a fight for survival which the creature truly won. The brothers are dead and the creature will soon be back in this world."

"Harry," interrupted Dumbledore. "Please slow down and tell the purpose of you telling me this fascinating story."

"Purpose!" said Harry fiercely. "The purpose of me telling you this _fascinating_ story is that Voldemort is a vessel for this creature. The power he used to destroy the bridge was not his but of that creature! The more he uses dark magic the more aware the creature becomes!"

"The more aware the creature becomes!"

Harry groaned in annoyance. "How do you think dark arts came into existence?" he snapped.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something but Harry stopped him.

"That creature _is_ the dark arts! I don't fully understand how it works but to get its powers back it _created_ the dark arts. Normal magic comes from your magical core but the dark arts are something that you summon from a different dimension!"

"Different dimension?" said Dumbledore frowning as he tried to make sense of what Harry was saying. And then realization struck him like a sledge hammer being slammed into the side of his head.

"You mean that using dark arts fuels this creature and when a certain point is reached it will use a vessel to come back into this world!"

"Yes!" said Harry pleased that Dumbledore finally understood.

"But how!" wondered Dumbledore aloud. "Where does all the power come from if the creature was left powerless!"

"After the creature was defeated it sought a way to restore itself but could find none," said Harry leaning forward. "Out of all three brothers the youngest was the only one who realized what a terrible mistake they had made and tried to correct said mistake by finishing the creature off."

"But he couldn't," said Dumbledore finally connecting all the pieces.

"Exactly! The creature even though stripped of all this powers after his duel with the brothers did have a few abilities left. It began possessing humans and began corrupting their souls in order to fuel himself. But it wasn't enough, the process was too slow and it was never enough to sustain him."

"Corrupting their souls and then consuming it like a Dementor, a dark creature," said Dumbledore thoughtfully.

"Not exactly," said Harry, though he did wonder at the back of his mind if Dementors were another creation of evil. "It was able to use access its magical core by taking control of another wizard's core and that gave it a terrifying idea."

Harry took a deep breath and looked into Dumbledore's eyes.

"It decided to sacrifice its consciousness to create his brand of magic," he said. "Do you understand what it did?"

"Sacrificed its consciousness to create dark arts," muttered Dumbledore thinking deeply. "And he had the power to take control of another magical person's core to fuel his own…"

Dumbledore gasped suddenly, "That means the dark arts are merely a form of his soul! A person who uses the dark arts fuels his core and loses his own."

"And when its core is fueled enough it will regain consciousness and re-emerge through a vessel," added Harry grimly.

"And that vessel is Voldemort," said Dumbledore slowly.

"Yes. Because of the extent to wish he has immersed himself into the dark arts, he has begun to tap into the creatures core itself. The more he uses its magic, the faster it becomes conscious."

Dumbledore intertwined his fingers and leveled his gaze at Harry's wand.

"So this means that the deathly hallows was just a story to cover up this truth," he said, his voice filled with disappointment.

"It was a story made up by the youngest brother to keep the truth alive but hidden," said Harry with a shrug.

"But why did the wand chose you Harry?" asked Dumbledore quietly. Was this _the power the dark lord knows not_ he wondered at the back of his mind.

"The wand would only choose someone with a greater potential than the first brother and no one else," he said lightly feeling a bit proud of himself. "And the one with the wand is the only one who has the slightest chance of defeating the creature," he added with a wry smile.

Dumbledore looked at Harry with his eyes full of pity.

"This is not a burden someone as young as you should bear Harry," he murmured.

Before Harry would have gotten irritated if Dumbledore or anyone else had said that or even shown pity on him. But now he didn't care. He had accepted his fate and often called it destiny to make himself feel better.

"Too late for that," muttered Harry. "So do you now understand sir?"

"I have understood what the dark arts truly are and what will happen if Voldemort continues to use dark magic. But there's one thing I don't understand," he said.

"What's that sir?"

"What do you want in return for giving me all this ahh.. _information_ ," he said with a smile.

Harry laughed. "You saw right through me headmaster," he admitted. "The real reason I came here is because I want to test myself against someone who has stood firm against Voldemort."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "You wish to duel me?" he asked with mild amusement.

"Whom else can I ask without them thinking I'm crazy?"

Dumbledore shook his head warily. "Harry," he began. "I don't think you should be worrying about dueling Voldemort now."

Expecting this sort of thing from Dumbledore Harry dug his hand into his pocket and removed the compass and placed it in front of Dumbledore.

"What this?" he asked curiously.

"It's a compass measuring how conscious the creature is," said Harry. "Currently it rests at thirty seven percent."

Dumbledore didn't say anything so Harry continued.

"When it reaches one hundred percent all hell will break loose on this world," he said.

"So that means we have enough time to stop it from happening," said Dumbledore.

Harry shook his head in negative. "Yesterday, before Voldemort attacked it was sitting pretty at twenty percent. And before he came back to power it was just seven percent."

Again Dumbledore didn't visibly react but this time Harry knew the man was slightly shook up.

"Do the math sir. If things continue the way they are, it will be little over a year and a half before the compass reaches its peak. And I _need_ to be ready to fight if I have to survive and _win_ this war sir."

"Not just you," murmured Dumbledore. "Every witch and wizard capable of holding a wand will have to be ready to fight for their lives."

Harry nodded solemnly.

Dumbledore stood up abruptly startling Harry.

"Sir?"

"We don't have a lot of time Mr. Potter," chided Dumbledore smiling, "Let's see how well you can handle a wand."

"Now!"

Dumbledore frowned. "When else did you expect?" he said, his eyes twinkling.

Harry just shook his head and blinked his eyes and then stood up.

"Good," said Dumbledore and beckoned Harry to a door hidden behind his bookshelf.

Harry's eyebrows shot up on entering the room. It was a massive dome shaped room whose purpose which Harry could easily guess, was to duel.

Dumbledore walked to the other end of the room and faced Harry who had his wand in hand looking determined.

"Any rules professor?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I don't want you to hide your abilities. If you want to be able to duel with Voldemort you will have to refine every last weapon in your arsenal."

"I wasn't planning on hiding any," replied Harry.

"Good. Then let us begin," he said and drew his wand. "In three, two, one!"

When Dumbledore began his countdown Harry had already begun to gather magic at his feet and when he heard the one, he flashed behind Dumbledore with his wand glowing red in readiness for a stunning spell.

So Harry was very _very_ surprised when he found himself being yanked back like someone had just pulled on his shirt and then being spun like a top while having his body completely bound in tight ropes and _then_ being strung upside down from the ceiling.

Upside down and still rotating slowly he looked into the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore.

"How did you know?" said Harry. Blood was rushing to his head making him a little dizzy.

"Experience," said Dumbledore, "Even though I didn't know where you disappeared too my body reacted on its own."

Harry grimaced. "You think Voldemort would have reacted in the same way?" he asked while planning a counter attack in his mind. There was no way he was going down so easy.

"Definitely," said Dumbledore, "But he would most certainly underestimate you in a one on one battle."

"As are you," said Harry summoning his element and freezing the ropes and breaking through them with ease.

Flipping in the air Harry landed gracefully on his feet and let loose a powerful cutting curse at Dumbledore's wand arm.

The curse was swatted aside and Dumbledore jumped back with a strange gleam in his eyes.

"A curse that powerful without wand moment and silently cast to boot. It seems that you've been practicing real hard."

"Thank you," said Harry with a tilt of his head and slashed his wand in a downward motion sending a pink colored curse at Dumbledore who in turn conjured a brick wall which crumbled to ash on contact with the curse.

Harry's heart started beating faster knowing the real duel was going to begin soon as professor and student began to circle each other.

" _Decollous_!" shouted Harry suddenly, firing the decapitation hex at the headmaster while simultaneously summoning his element and freezing the entire length of the floor.

Harry did not let up in his assault. Just as Dumbledore avoided his hex, he raised ice spikes from the bottom in an attempt to stab the headmaster.

But in the blink of an eye, the spikes were transfigured into cloth. "No letting up," thought Harry and began to constantly bombard Dumbledore with all sorts of objects made from ice and each one was either transfigured into something mundane or deflected away.

"Either he's seeing everything in slow motion or he's really fast!" thought Harry.

There was another pause in the duel Dumbledore managed to dispel all of Harry's attacks.

"Your spells are powerful Harry, but you're still holding back," said Dumbledore.

"Maybe it's because you refuse to return fire."

"I'll return fire if you manage to get a hit on me," replied Dumbledore. "But the way things are going, I doubt you'll be able to come within 5 feet of me."

Harry's irritation spiked at hearing that. Sure he had never beaten Penny in a duel but he sure had made her work hard to beat him at times and he was going to show the old man what he was made off.

"Confringo!" yelled Harry and began running towards Dumbledore.

" _Confringo, confringo, confringo!"_ yelled in succession as Dumbledore deflected the curses. But that was just a distraction.

As Harry closed the gap between the two, he suddenly raised his left hand and blasted a powerful jet of ice cold water at the headmaster.

Dumbledore barely managed to raise a shield against the elemental attack and he grunted when it impacted his shield. The jet of water suddenly split into two and moved around the shield and slammed into Dumbledore from behind.

Gasping Dumbledore was thrown forward and he quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the jet. But Harry was not going to let that happen!

He was going to show Dumbledore the mistake of thinking he could take on an elemental without attacking.

The water further split into four jets and rushed at the professor who stood up swiftly and conjured five thick wooden boards and surrounded himself with them to fend off the water jet attacks.

Harry smirked as Dumbledore didn't notice the water pooling beneath his legs and just as fast as the water was released by Harry, it was converted into ice and easily pierced through the wood trapping Dumbledore in a cage of ice, with his feet stuck to the ground.

To ensure that the headmaster didn't blast the ice cage out of existence or transfigure it, Harry had tiny sharp needles made of ice grow out the ice columns trapping Dumbledore and had them stop just a centimeter away from the headmasters body ensuring that if he tried to move, it would be a very painful result.

To top it all off, everything happened in less than 15 seconds.

Dumbledore was about to flick his wand but Harry spotted the moment and had one of his needles prick the professor's hand drawing blood and making the professor drop his wand.

Smiling victoriously Harry walked towards the headmaster.

"Why do you not take me seriously headmaster?" asked Harry mockingly.

Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "It is you who is not talking _me_ seriously."

Harry narrowed his eyes, "I don't think you understand the situation you are in professor."

To Harry's surprise Dumbledore chuckled. "Ah there's that Slytherin arrogance," he said shaking his head.

" _Stupefy_ ," muttered Harry, but to his shock the curse just passed through Dumbledore and the man faded away into nothingness.

"You still haven't touched me yet Harry," said Dumbledore softly from behind Harry.

Eyes wide, Harry turned sharply letting loose a cutting curse but like before the curse passed through Dumbledore and the professor faded away.

"Illusions?" muttered Harry questioningly.

"Not quite," said Dumbledore, this time standing a few feet away from Harry.

"But you I never saw you cast the spell on yourself," said Harry as his eyes darted around trying to spot the real Dumbledore. "And it takes several wand moments and time to cast such a spell."

"I didn't cast it on myself but I did cast a hallucination hex on you when I tied you up. I'm not that stupid that I would take on an elemental such as you without protecting myself," he said giving a smile which infuriated Harry.

"And you said you wouldn't return fire," Harry said scathingly.

"And you believed me," shot back Dumbledore.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Closing your eyes in a duel Harry?" said Dumbledore sounding amused. "Not a good…"

His voice was drowned in a sudden blast of hail and water which erupted from Harry which went flying in all directions.

Hallucinations or not, the real Dumbledore was forced to raise a shield against the hail storm which Harry had summoned.

 ** _FLASHBACK_**

It was another training session and another day filled with pain and bruises for Harry.

He was blindfolded and was constantly being pelted by rocks and Penny expected him to dodge said stones without being able to see them!

"This is pointless," said Harry tiredly.

"No its not," replied Penny, "You just have to concentrate on the feeling! How do you feel when lift that stone with your magic?"

"I feel it rushing through my blood to do as commanded."

"Now tell your magic to spread! Try to feel your magic touch the rock and determine its location for you!"

"I can always feel my magic lifting objects with my eyes open! I need to have eye contact with an object to be able to move it!" said Harry in frustration.

"Why are you limiting yourself Harry," snapped Perenelle. "First of all, you can do what no wizard or witch could ever do and now you're saying that you don't have the capacity to evolve this ability? I hear a loser talking boy."

"I like to see you try it then!" yelled Harry in anger.

"Unfortunately I can't," hissed Perenelle. "I'm going to push you harder and harder until you do what I want to see!"

Helplessness filled Harry. "I can't do this!" he said desperately, not wanting to undergo another round of pain.

"Too late," said Perenelle grimly and she flicked her wand blindfolding Harry again.

Another flick of her wand and a dozen small and sharp stones lifted of the ground.

"I have told you what I want Harry. It's up to you to come up with a solution, but until then we're going to keep doing this until we reach a point where you don't even have the strength to blink."

Penny felt terrible doing this but she had to be cruel to Harry if he had any hope of surviving the coming war.

And so the gruesome training continued. Harry was constantly pelted with stones as he tried to use his magic to detect them coming at him.

He could feel the magic brimming with power inside him but he just could not get it to form a proximity ward of sorts around him like Penny wanted! Also it wasn't like he wasn't trying to do it. Sure he was trying real hard but it just wasn't happening!

Slowly time passed by and blood kept dripping out of Harry's body as each stone Perenelle sent at him cut threw his skin or left painful bruises.

8 hours later Perenelle stopped. Harry had collapsed and wasn't moving.

"Are you alive?" asked Penny kicking him lightly while munching on a cheese burger.

"Please stop," came a broken whisper.

"Oh! You can still talk?"

"I can't do this anymore."

"You know something Harry?" said Penny, finishing up her cheese burger. "I've found that in magical beings, when the body is pushed to the brink of death, their magic does anything in its power to save it from death. _And_ if the wizard or witch in question has great power, then their magic somewhat responds to their… hmm how to put it? . . . . . . their dying command!"

Harry pushed his body up and looked at her with horror in his eyes.

"You're there, but not quite," were the words he heard before a spear was thrust through his left shoulder pinning him to the ground.

The pain was unimaginable.

And then the spear was yanked out and Harry screamed.

Penny grabbed Harry and dragged him to his feet. "IF YOU WANT IT STOP THEN STOP IT!" she shouted and put the blindfold back on and pushed Harry away.

The spear was thrust into his body again but this time an inch away from the first hole punched in his body.

Another scream tore through Harry's mouth as he backed away desperate to escape.

The spear pierced him again in the same place and his shoulder was literally hanging from his body.

"Please stop just stop it," pleaded Harry in his mind, blind to the world. "Please stop, please stop, please stop," he kept chanting in his mind between the pain and the tears.

"Please stop," he said out loud sobbing and fell on to his knees.

It was only then he realized that Perenelle had indeed stopped. His breath coming in short gasps he used his left hand to remove the blindfold looked up.

It was raining hard and through a haze of pain he saw Penny standing a few feet away looking at him strangely.

"Let me in Harry," she said gently but her voice seemed very far away to him.

"Whaa..?" he croaked out.

"Go to sleep Harry, everything's going to be fine," she whispered.

 ** _END FLASHBACK_**

Smiling Harry began to spread his magic around the room and detected Dumbledore holding up a shield at the far end of the room.

He directed the hail to focus majority of its force a little distance away from Dumbledore tricking the headmaster into lowering the power he was putting into his shield and Harry at that exact moment had a huge block of ice slam into the shield shattering it and directed another small ice shard pierce the headmaster's hand.

Dumbledore was shocked! Not only had Harry found him but he had also managed to hurt him!

"I got you Professor," said Harry panting.

Dumbledore looked at his hand and then back at Harry with a frown on his face. He then looked around the room and saw the damage done to the room which was slowly repairing itself.

The floor was filled with water which reached up to his knee which was saying something considering the size of the room and also there were miniature icebergs floating in them!

"You could have just given me a tiny cut instead of sticking a needle in my hand," said Dumbledore finally.

Harry grinned. "It feels good to have drawn blood from you."

Dumbledore noted that Harry still had his wand at the ready. "You can put your wand away, the duel is over."

"You said that if I drew blood you'd fight back!"

Dumbledore smiled. "It took you so much time and effort to just draw blood, imagine the difference if I fought back."

Harry was furious.

"But before you start voicing your protests hear what I have to say."

Harry nodded stiffly.

"You asked me to tell you if I thought you could take on Voldemort right?"

"Yeah."

"I think you can."

Harry was stunned. Clearly this was not what he was expecting to hear. "Why?"

"I was ready for you to attack that is why I could counter it. Voldemort will be expecting you to be a weakling in front of him and will never believe that you attack him or even hurt him. That is why I think that I you take him by surprise and attack first if you ever met him head on, he wouldn't know what hit him."

Harry stunned expression turned to one of glee.

"But I have a question to ask you Harry," said Dumbledore.

"What?"

"Are you hiding anymore abilities?"

Harry smirked, "Let's just say my arsenal does not just consist of elemental powers."

"I assume you're referring to the speed at which you moved?"

"Part of it," admitted Harry. "But sir, I still want to have a proper duel with you."

"I suggest even better," said Dumbledore. "Starting tomorrow I want you to come to my office after dinner and I can teach you things that would help you fight the dark lord."

"Brilliant!" exclaimed Harry.

"Then you better get some sleep my boy," said the headmaster chuckling.

Harry nodded and left to get some well deserved sleep leaving Dumbledore to his thoughts. "The boy is so powerful Fawkes," he said to his phoenix. "His will is strong too."

"We now have a beacon of hope."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Miles away in a house of gold a women was sitting near a lake surrounded by a mountain of files.

Nicolas Flamel watched from a distance as his wife searched for hours through the family tree records that they had wondering what it was that she was looking for.

He saw her eyes widen and saw sadness etched into her face as she turned towards him.

Concerned he hurried to her side wondering what was wrong.

"What happened Penny?"

He knelt next to her as a tear leaked from her eye. Sniffing she handed him an extremely old portrait and asked to look at it.

"This is a portrait of you and your sister," he said carefully.

"Did you know her eyes were as blue as the sea?"

"Yes, honey. I remember clearly," he said gently.

"Now look at her face and look at this photograph."

He recognized the girl in the photograph and then his eyes widened in realization.

"No," he whispered in shock.

"Yes," said Perenelle. "Lillian Mary Austin is a descendent of my sister.

.

.

.

.

Or you could say our niece."


	39. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36 – Ancestry revealed? Part 1**

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Ministry of Magic**

The new minister for magic, Madam Bones seated behind her desk carefully observing the man the ministry of France and sent as their representative.

Madam Bones was flanked on both sides by the head of the auror division Rufus Scrimgeour and the head of the department of mysteries Alexander Croaker.

"I believe I told this was to be a meeting with your minister, not some unknown person," said Madam Bones coldly.

"Our minister has better things to do than answer summons from you, Madam Bones," said the man smoothly, his voice heavily accented. "However if you wish to meet the minister urgently then I will be happy to arrange a meeting at our ministry."

"You know the situation in our country right now and you know damn well the reason I wanted to meet him _here!_ " she snapped angrily.

For the past week they had repeatedly asked for aid from the French but they were consistently been ignored until Madam Bones had lost patience and sent Patricia Selwyn, the head of the department of external affairs to the French ministry to request for aid and a meeting with the minister.

But they had blown her off saying the minister was too busy with their own affairs but he would come down to London as soon as possible to meet with Madam Bones. And now they had sent this Mr. Gasquet instead.

"We are aware of the situation Minister, and we really don't see why you need our help," replied the man coolly.

"We need your help because, we no longer have the manpower to keep the muggles unaware of what is going on _and_ prevent more attacks from the dark lord!"

"A difficult problem indeed minister," said Mr. Gasquet inclining his head. "But correct me if I'm wrong, the previous minister had seen fit to ignore us when we had a mass murderer on the loose and he also refused to let us carry out an operation to capture the murderer when we found out he was hiding in this country."

"I'll correct you then," cut across Madam Bones icily. "That murderer of yours was caught by our aurors and he turned out to be a mentally unstable man who had killed some distant relative of your minister because that relative had gotten that man fired from his job because he didn't _recognize_ him!"

Mr. Gasquet suddenly found a spot behind the minister to be very interesting.

"Be as it may, I think the real reason your minister is being so troublesome is because of a deal that went wrong when Fudge was in power."

"Then you should know the damage your ministries arrogance has cost ours!" said Gasquet furiously.

Madam Bones closed her eyes cursing Fudge for the umpteenth time. "I understand your unwillingness to help us because of _Ex-_ minister Fudge's incompetence, but I'd hoped your ministry would be mature enough to put those mistakes in the past to tackle the menace that is Lord Voldemort."

Mr. Gasquet appeared pleased and Madam Bones knew that there would be a price to pay if they needed more help. They could have asked other countries for help but their magical communities were small and their law enforcement units smaller. The French were the second largest magical community in the world but had the best auror force.

"This is a list of our demands," said Gasquet. "If you comply, we will send our entire team of obliviators here plus some of our best aurors to help you keep your streets safe."

Madam Bones took the parchment and her expression slowly turned red with fury upon reading the list but kept her mouth shut and quietly handed the list to Unspeakable Croaker.

"So that's why you requested me to be here Gasquet," said Croaker with dry amusement.

"Think of it as a cost for what your ex-minister has done to us."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures minister," growled Rufus. "I think it best we give them what they want."

"Though it pains me to say this, but we have no choice," said Croaker. "These artifacts and research materials mean nothing if we are all dead."

"Then we have a deal?" asked Mr. Gasquet eagerly.

"How soon will your obliviators be here?" asked Madam Bones.

"Within the hour minister," he replied quickly.

"I want them here in 30 minutes along with your minister. He owes us for sending a worm like you in his place," she said. "We will need them to get to work immediately. The dark lord's latest attack left hundreds of muggles dead along with hundred more survivors to spread rumors about what they saw."

"I will not waste any time then," said Mr. Gasquet.

"Rufus, please make sure Mr. Gasquet swears an oath to deliver what he has promised us."

"Yes, minister," said Scrimgeour and escorted an outraged Mr. Gasquet out ignoring his protests.

Once the man had left Madam Bones turned to Croaker.

"You want me to conceal our special portkey's in the artifacts don't you?" he said.

"Yes," she replied. "Once this is over I want them back. They are far too valuable to be lost."

"And the research they want?"

"Leave out the parts where the breakthroughs were achieved. Give them the end result and but make sure they never figure out how it was done."

"Yes Madam Bones," he said.

"And Croaker."

"Yes ma'am?"

"Have we found out which of our aurors report to Dumbledore's order?"

"Unfortunately no, his agents are good at what they do. But I'd hoped you'd decide to let them be. After all their aim too, is to stop Voldemort."

"I know," she said heavily. "But I'd hoped Dumbledore would stop operating outside our authority and work with us instead."

Croaker gave the minister a penetrating look, looking for words to put her mind at ease. This would be a perfect opportunity to gain more funding and increase the functioning of his department he thought.

"There is a project which our department came up with to turn the war in our favor," he said carefully. "But we were never allowed to go ahead with the project because of the erm… _risks_ it involved."

Madam Bones narrowed her eyes. She knew what Croaker was talking about and had from time to time prevented it from being implemented, though Croaker didn't know that.

"You know how illegal it is and the ramifications if the truth were to reach the public, not to mention how immoral it is."

"It may be immoral yes," replied Croaker. "But it would also mean fewer deatheater's on the streets."

The minister sighed and began drumming her fingers on her desk considering what Croaker had in mind.

"How many of your men will be involved?"

"No more than five. All of them are exceptional at retrieval missions and the veil of death will be a perfect way to cover up the deaths."

"And I suppose you will be using veritaserum to interrogate them?" she asked.

"We will use our strongest dose. If they are found to be innocent then we will wipe their memories and leave them where we found them. They would have no knowledge that the ministry was ever involved," said the unspeakable confidently.

Madam Bones still felt a little uncomfortable with going through with Croaker's plan but she knew if the ministry kept doing things within the law, the dark lord would have no trouble taking over her job.

"We might have to brief Dumbledore about this. It would worsen the ministries relationship with him if we accidentally picked up one of his spies."

Croaker nodded, happy that she had agreed. "So we can proceed then."

"Yes, there will be no paper work and but I want an oath from you that you will regularly update me on your progress and you will not do anything without approval from me first," she said sharply.

"An oath minister? Don't you think that's a little excessive?"

"No I don't," she replied coldly. "A mission without paperwork is bound to slip out of control and I don't want that to happen. Do you understand unspeakable Croaker?"

"I do minister," he said quietly. He then drew his wand and swore that he would not do anything without the approval of the minister when it came to the mission of capturing deatheater's only.

"So you can start with compiling a list known deatheater's and bring it to my desk so we can start the elimination process."

"Yes ma'am."

Also, have we found out what the goblins are up to?" she asked wearily. "We wouldn't want them to start another revolution at a time like this."

"At _this_ time we don't know what they are up to," he said slowly. "They fired all their human employees two nights ago and I'm sorry to say this, but they also have been gathering arms."

"And why are you telling me this now!" she asked, her temper rising.

"I got this Intel just a few hours ago and didn't think it was necessary to burdenyou with it until we knew the reason behind their actions," said Croaker calmly.

The minister let out a tired sigh. "Keep me updated Croaker," she said. "And ask my assistant to find and send Arthur Weasley in."

"Weasley?"

"He has proven himself to be extremely loyal to Dumbledore in the past and I am sure his is a part of Dumbledore's order."

Croaker nodded and walked out of the office quietly. He knew what they were about to do was highly illegal but war is war, he thought grimly.

It was time to start hitting back hard.

-x-x-x—x-x-x-x-

 **Hogsmeade**

It was the last day of school before the holidays started and the students had been allowed to visit Hogsmeade before they left for home.

"Oh there goes a Double D!" said Blaise in excitement.

"How can you tell?" asked Harry curiously. "You can hardly notice them in robes."

"And in those robes they look like they could be a modest C," he said grinning.

"Ah! I see," said Harry, the light bulb in his mind suddenly glowing bright.

Harry and Blaise were sitting under an old banyan tree a little distance away from the three broomsticks and Blaise was trying to teach Harry the art of predicting the bust size of a woman.

"What about her?" said Harry, pointing to one of the sixth year Hogwarts girls.

"Oh that's Lisa," said Blaise. "She's a Hufflepuff and I think she's a 32 B."

Harry grinned at Blaise's knowledge about the women of Hogwarts. "You know, if you had a girlfriend, she'd break up with you in less than 2 days."

"Why is that!" asked Blaise indignantly.

"You'd keep staring at other hot women and keep describing their… 'Ahem' dimensions to her. Can you name even a single girl who likes to hear a boyfriend talk about other girls?"

"If I had a chick, then I would like you to know that I would pamper her rotten."

Harry snorted, "Yeah right."

"You're one to talk," said Blaise, "didn't you come here with Daphne?"

"Oh yeah, I gave her some excuse and told her I'd meet her at four at Honeydukes."

"Why?"

Harry just shrugged. "I'll be going back with her though," he said.

Blaise's eyes widened in realization, "You're just want to make out with her!"

"Yeah," said Harry blushing a bit. "I kind of enjoyed the first time… and erm… I don't think she'd mind it too much if we did it again."

Blaise smile was getting broader by the second and Harry refused to look at his best friend.

"You sly bugger! You're just using her!"

"I'm not using her! We're just enjoying… the… the _feel_ of each others lips on the other," said Harry.

"Do you like her?" asked Blaise.

"No, not that much," he said.

Blaise's eyes filled with tears.

"What's wrong!" asked Harry mystified.

"I just can't believe you're using her for pleasure," he said sniffing.

"You don't approve?"

"Are you kidding! I'm so damn proud of you!" he said, tears falling freely and threw his arms around Harry hugging him tight.

"Blaise get _off!_ " yelled Harry and with the assistance of a little magic, he managed to push his tall friend away from him.

After Blaise calmed down he remembered what had happened the last time Harry had kissed her.

"Hey what about that problem you had with your body temperature and all that?" he asked Harry.

"Oh I got that sorted out," replied Harry. "If want to know it went haywire for a bit because I was growing up."

"You're still growing up genius," said Blaise sarcastically. "Or is this the limit of your growth!"

"Not like that idiot," said Harry annoyed. "I mean it was like hitting puberty."

"Oh… _oh_ Okay. So you got it under control now?"

"Pretty much," replied Harry.

They went silent for a bit just enjoying the cool atmosphere.

"I wish witch's learnt to dress up like muggle women," said Blaise suddenly.

"What? Why?"

Blaise sighed. "Look over there. That's Alicia Spinnet and she's a muggleborn."

"I see her."

"Look at her! Look at her clothes! The way her jeans hug her arse and that tight T-shirt defining all her curves! She's got amazing tits!"

"She looks like she's a C," said Harry hesitantly.

"A 34 C most probably," he said gloomily. "Maybe I should design clothes for women," he added brightening up.

Harry laughed. "I think it'd be better for them to roam about naked instead."

"Hmm… even better," said Blaise.

Sighing Harry got up and dusted the dirt off his clothes. "Well I'll leave you to your perverted thoughts. I've to go and meet Daphne," he said.

"I'll come with you."

"Suit yourself."

Around five past four Daphne turned up with Tracey and they were accompanied by another red haired girl.

"Hey Harry, Blaise," said Daphne. Tracey just nodded at them.

"Had a fun time at that womeny store?" asked Harry.

"Actually we were at the Witch's corner," said the red head.

Harry looked at her with a frown. She looked familiar but he couldn't remember how he knew her. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" asked Harry politely.

"That's Susan Bones Harry, she's a 36…," started Blaise but he was cut of when Harry kicked him hard.

"Bloody hell, that hurt Harry!" cried Blaise.

"Oh I'm sorry Blaise, I thought I saw a bug crawling up your leg," said Harry glaring at him.

"An imaginary bug Harry?" asked Tracey, her eyebrows raised.

"Don't worry about it, pleasure meeting you Susan, shall we go Daphne?" Harry said quickly with a touch of impatience.

"What's the hurry?" asked Tracey with a smirk. "Want to spend some quality time with Daphne?"

"Tracey!" said Daphne mortified.

"Actually _Tracey_ ," said Harry folding his arms, "I intend to."

"Oh," replied Tracey effectively shut up.

"Nice," whispered Blaise smiling broadly.

There was another few seconds of awkward silence and awkward staring.

"Well," said Daphne slipping her hand in Harry's. "I guess we'll see you later. Bye Suzy, Tracey."

Once they were out hearing distance Daphne looked at Harry curiously and asked, "So why did you really kick Blaise?"

"He was about to tell us her size," he replied uncomfortably.

"Her size? What do you mean?"

"How do you know Susan, by the way?" asked Harry, desperate to change the topic. He certainly did not want to discuss breast sizes with _his_ date!

"We've known each other since the age of 5," replied Daphne. "Her mother and mine were friends during their time in Hogwarts."

"That's interesting," said Harry with a laugh.

"Why?"

"I always expected Slytherin's to be friends with just Slytherin's and no one else."

"Susan's mother and mine were in Ravenclaw," said Daphne rolling her eyes. "My dad was a Slytherin."

"And you ended up being a Slytherin, your dad must be _so_ proud."

Time passed by in such fashion with Harry and Daphne chatting. They spent some time in Honeydukes tasting different types of sweets before it was finally time to get back to the castle.

On the way back both Harry and Daphne by accident sat in a carriage with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. In an attempt not to look at the two Gryffindor's Harry busied himself trying to identify other Hogwarts students. Harry spotted Lillian with her short black hair which was now sporting a few green stripes get into a carriage with Weasley, Granger and Longbottom. He also saw Susan Bones get into a carriage with her Ravenclaw friends and Blaise had joined Malfoy and his goons in another carriage.

Once all the students were inside the carriages set off with a tense atmosphere in their carriage. The two gossip queens of their year were eying Harry and Daphne with interest and Daphne was trying to kill them with her eyes. It was very ineffective thought Harry.

Mercifully the ride was over soon and Daphne literally dragged Harry into the castle.

"What's the hurry?" asked Harry in amusement.

"I cannot believe those two!" she burst out all of a sudden.

"Huh? They didn't even say a thing," said.

"Oh they didn't have to say anything," she spat out. "It was all written in their eyes. Just you wait, by tomorrow the rumors about us would have spread through out Hogwarts!"

Harry wanted to say 'like I care' but held his tongue.

"You know," he said instead. "There's an empty classroom right here."

"What?"

Harry took a deep breath, "Do you want to… you know…"

"Oh… oh!" she said blushing.

Harry closed the gap between them while gathering his courage and suppressing the other voice in his head which was telling him to turn and run.

Daphne's heart rate increased when Harry stepped closer to her. She too was looking forward to making out and was just waiting for Harry to make a move first.

"Gladly," she whispered before placing her lips on his.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

About half an hour later Daphne returned alone to the common room looking angry.

"Hey Daph," said Tracey "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she huffed and sat on the sofa folding her arms.

"Where's Potter," asked Millicent.

"Do I look like I care," snapped Daphne.

"What happened!" asked Draco looking interested. Some older students also leaned in wanting to hear some gossip.

Daphne just threw her arms up in frustration. "Am I bad looking?" she asked.

"Of course not," replied Blaise in an instant drawing amused looks from the people around him.

"If she were two years older I would die to get into her pants," muttered a sixth year quietly to his friends.

"Thanks Blaise," said Daphne. She had not heard the sixth year. "Well after Hogsmeade that bastard and I went into an empty classroom and we made out."

"Nice," whispered the boys around and the girls nodded solemnly listening to her every word.

"And then after a while I asked him if this meant if I was his girl friend and do you know what he said!"

"What?" asked Tracey.

"That he wasn't interested in that kind of sappy stuff!"

The girls gasped out loud.

"I mean we've gone on two dates, made out three or four times and when I ask him if we should start seeing each other he just blows me off!"

"Potter's got balls, I'll give you that," said Pucey sniggering.

"How was the snog," asked Tracey trying hard not to laugh.

Daphne look of anger melted into regret. "It was great," she said. In her mind Daphne was thinking if she hadn't asked him that damn question she could be still having a great snogging session with Harry.

"Draco, will you kick his arse for me?" said Daphne sniffing. Her anger had dissipated and the hurt of rejection had set in.

"What!" squeaked Draco.

"Beat the shit out of that arrogant piece of shit!"

"Err… I don't know Daphne," said Draco awkwardly. "I mean he's my friend and I erm wouldn't want to jeopardize my friendship him."

Blaise snorted. "I can count the number of words you've spoken to Harry all year on one hand let alone two!"

Draco glared at Blaise and Blaise just smirked. He knew Draco was just scared of Harry and the Malfoy heir knew that Harry could destroy him with ease in a duel.

"Where's Harry anyway?" asked Tracey. She didn't want to hurt Daphne but she was with Harry on this one. Daphne was a year elder to them all and was a tad more mature when it came to things like having a relationship with someone.

The only reason she was in her third year and not fourth was because her birthday was on the 3rd of September and Hogwarts was very strict about their age rule.

"I don't know and I don't care," said Daphne with a sigh. "I'm going to bed," she announced and left the common room.

The small crowd which had gathered around Daphne slowly dispersed into smaller groups after she left. The drama was over and it was back to discussing Slytherin politics.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Headmaster's office**

"Concentrate Harry," said Dumbledore softly. The headmaster was sitting in his high chair with his wand out and Harry was sitting opposite him trying his hardest to clear his mind.

" _Legilimens_ "

Harry felt the familiar feeling of a needle poke at his mind. He focused on keeping his mind empty of all thoughts and it worked for about 5 seconds before his memories started flashing in front of his eyes.

Dumbledore immediately withdrew.

"That was a great improvement Harry," said the headmaster smiling. "You were able to fend me off for 2 seconds longer."

"It would have been just a second if my wand weren't providing a little protection to my mind," said Harry disappointedly.

"Occlumency is a very, very difficult art to master," said Dumbledore. "You can't just imagine a wall around your mind and prevent your mind from being read."

"I know, you've told be that before," said Harry dryly. "But no matter how much I try and no matter how much advice you give me, every time I try to not think of anything, something pops up no matter what. It's impossible to not have any thoughts roaming in your head!"

"And that is exactly why mastering occlumency is considered to be beyond the capabilities of a normal witch or wizard," said Dumbledore. "I could teach you innumerable curses and deadly magic, but if you face an opponent who has mastered legilimency and occlumency, you will lose no matter what."

Harry's shoulders slumped.

"You have mastered both haven't you?"

Dumbledore nodded, "And so have Professor Snape and Lord Voldemort."

"Alright," said Harry gathering his wits. "All I have to do is _not think_. That's the key isn't it? Not to think?"

"Everyone has their own methods Harry. You can choose your own."

"Right," breathed Harry.

"But remember this Harry, once you achieve this state of the mind, something will happen to you and you must under no circumstances panic," said Dumbledore seriously.

"Not panic?" asked Harry confused. "Why? What will happen?"

"You'll see if you ever reach that stage," said Dumbledore. "Now let's get back to practicing."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes in another attempt to empty his mind.

" _Legilimens_ "

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Harry left the headmasters office a little over an hour later with a terrible headache. He had made no progress and the task seemed to be getting harder and harder with every attempt.

But Harry wasn't going to give up. No, he had learnt when he was six years old that his path to success was not giving up.

He was going to keep trying until he succeeded.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Grimmauld Place**

Three days had gone since Harry had returned home and he had sulked continuously for three days and counting.

"Hey Harry," said Sirius. "You're up early."

Harry ignored Sirius and sat down at the table grumpily.

Sirius sighed. "You're still mad?"

"No I'm not mad," replied Harry. "I'm just annoyed."

"Same thing," said Sirius with a snort.

"No its not, if I were angry I would have cursed that damn clumsy auror and I would have cursed you too for turning this into the head quarters of that damn phoenix club."

"I'm surprised you're acting so bratish," said Sirius idly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you always act so mature and all, one would just think you would understand why I offered for my house to be made headquarters. But like any other kid of your age, you too get mad when people enter your room without permission," he said.

Harry glared at his godfather whose lips were threatening to break out into a smile.

"I'm not like other kids," said Harry childishly.

"Morning you guys," said a sleepy looking Tonks entering the dining hall.

"Morning Tonks," said Sirius.

"Damn auror," muttered Harry.

"Kreacher!" called out Sirius.

The once pathetic looking and now some what cleaner elf popped into existence and bowed deeply. "Yes master?"

"Bring us some breakfast will you?"

The elf nodded and popped away.

"How are the Weasley's?" Tonks asked Sirius.

"Oh they're fine, just a little shook up though.

"Hmmm? What happened to the Weasley's?" asked Harry interestedly.

"Their house was attacked by deatheater's but the wards we put around them held long enough for them to escape."

"They were attacked! Any of them dead?"

Tonks frowned. "You sound very hopeful."

"Well I wouldn't be shedding any tears for them," Harry replied with a smirk.

Tonks looked away from him in disgust.

"What happened now?" asked Sirius. Tonks and Harry surprisingly didn't like each other. Harry didn't like her because she was too clumsy and had spilt milk on him the first time they met and Tonks didn't like Harry because he had insulted her hair and called her a fat arse.

"She tried to molest me last night," said Harry deadpanned.

"I did not!" said Tonks outraged. "I just accidently entered his room and then I fell on him."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Actually it was your godson who did the molesting."

"Excuse me!" said Harry.

"He squeezed my breasts and pushed me off!"

"Those were your breasts? Huh, I just thought it was the extra fat on you."

Tonks stood up angrily and rolled up her sleeves. "You want to fight midget!"

"What are you going to do? _Sit_ on me? _Nymphadora_!"

"How dare you!"

"Alright enough," shouted Sirius. "Tonks, are you arguing with a thirteen year old?"

Tonks huffed and sat down angrily.

"And Harry, please don't fight with every order member you don't like! Yesterday Kingsley wasn't amused when you called him a bald headed bastard."

"He is one for trying to order me up to my room," shot back Harry.

"Well you can imagine how bad things are going to be from today then," muttered Tonks.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

Sirius sighed. "Now Harry, I want you to calm down first."

"What does she mean!"

"The deatheater's burned down the Weasley's home so they're living here from today," said Tonks. "In fact they're sleeping upstairs as we speak."

Harry mouth open and shut several times and he was finding it very difficult to breath!

"Harry?"

His face was slowly turning blue.

"Breathe Harry!"

"The Weasley's are living here?" Harry finally choked out.

"And I'm sure you can co-exist," replied Sirius rising up from his chair and hurrying over to Harry side.

"The red headed bastard is living under this roof!" Harry choked out again.

Sirius placed his hands on Harry's shoulders and forced him back into his chair.

"I know you hate them Harry, but you have to realize there s a war going on! And there's enough room in our house for them and us to live peacefully!"

Unfortunately Molly Weasley chose that exact moment to enter the room.

"Molly!" exclaimed Tonks, "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Molly smiled wearily. "I couldn't sleep knowing our house is being destroyed by deatheater's."

Tonks hugged Mrs. Weasley. "How are the kids?"

"The twins and Percy didn't sleep too but Ron and Ginny somehow managed to shut their eyes for a while."

"It's going to be alright Molly," said Sirius comfortingly.

"Thank you for letting us stay here Sirius," she said sniffing. "It was very kind of you."

" _Get rid of them Sirius!"_ hissed Harry furiously. " _I don't want their damn tears to fill up this house!"_

" _Have a heart Harry!"_ whispered Sirius. "Err… why don't you call the kids down Molly, I'm sure they're hungry."

Harry's eyes widened in horror. " _Do want another war you damn dog!"_ whispered Harry.

" _Stop thinking about yourself for a moment and think about them and don't think of them as Weasley's, think of them as a family who just lost their home!"_

Tonks meanwhile hadn't missed the conversation between Harry and Sirius and stuck out her tongue at Harry just to infuriate him.

Harry's blood pressure rose and he lifted a plate nearby to throw it at the now green headed auror.

Sirius snatched the plate out of Harry hand and glared at Tonks. "Molly do you mind if I have a word with Tonks here?"

"No, go ahead Sirius, I'll just go and get the kids."

Harry just watched silently as Sirius dragged Tonks away berating for acting so immature and as Molly Weasley left the room to bring the rest of the Weasley's down.

Him in a house with three Gryffindor's who hated him as much as he hated them? There was definitely no way there was going to be peace.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Kreacher meanwhile had brought some delicious looking pancakes along with some bread, butter and eggs.

Harry didn't bother to wait for anyone and began to eat. All that anger had left him very hungry.

Just as he was through his third pancake he heard voices coming down the stairs.

"This house is neat mom!" came the voice of one of the twins.

"Yeah, the rug on the floor feels like heaven and I think that chandelier was made of pure gold!" said his hated enemy Ronald Weasley.

"Be quite kids," scolded Mrs. Weasley, "You are all guests here and I expect you to behave yourselves."

"Whom does the house belong to mom?" asked Ginny.

"Sirius Black," replied Molly as they entered the room.

"Oh cool! Pancakes!" exclaimed Ron. He hurried over to the table and began piling his plate.

The others though had noticed Harry sitting at the other end unlike their brother.

"Oh hi Harry," said Ginny with a smile and pulled out a chair and sat next to him.

Ron looked up in shock. "Whass fe foin er!" he said spitting food all over!

He got a rap on his head by his mother for that. "This house belongs to him too so I expect you to be polite to him!" she said sternly. "Now behave!" she said again left.

"On second thought, things might not be so bad," thought Harry while a smile grew on his face.

Embarrassed Ron looked away from Harry and began eating his food quietly. The twins took a seat opposite to Ginny eyeing Harry carefully while Percy sat opposite Ron.

"Sorry about your house," Harry said to Ginny. While he hated the other three, he didn't have any problem with their sister.

"It's alright," said Ginny sadly, "Houses can always be rebuilt."

"We might have spotted some of your friends parents out there though," said George.

"I hope you said hi from my side," said Harry coolly.

The twins didn't respond to the jab but their ears turned red in anger.

"Stop it George, Fred. You know it's not his fault they attacked us," said Ginny.

"I bet he knew about it though," muttered Ron.

"Hmmm, I do remember Draco saying something about it," said Harry looking thoughtful.

Fred stood up angrily. "I don't care if it's not his fault, what's pissing me off is that he's not sorry!"

"Sit down Fred," said Percy sternly. "Ginny, get away from him and come sit here."

"Yeah, sit down Fred," sneered Harry. "You should remember you're living in my house and I absolutely don't like raised voices."

Ginny sighed. "Stop it you two," she told the twins. "Please don't antagonize them Harry," she said. "And I thought you would have learnt to ignore what us Slytherin's say," she added looking at her brothers angrily.

Scowling the twins took their plates and headed over near Ron who was quietly observing the byplay.

"And since your sister asked so sweetly, I promise not to talk to you," said Harry smiling.

He then stood up and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Nice to see you Ginny," he said and walked out of the room leaving behind four speechless Weasley's and a deeply blushing Weasley.

"Ginny!" gasped Ron.

"He just did that to anger you all," she said hurriedly not wanting a fight.

"So much for his promise," growled George.

"He promised not to talk to you," replied a still red Ginny. "And being the Slytherin he is, he won't pass up an opportunity to get your tempers to raise."

"Damn Snake."

-x-x-x-x-x-

As it turned out the Weasley's weren't the only ones to be attacked that night. Voldemort and his men had launched simultaneous attacks on several important ministry members including Madam Bones. The minister and her niece had escaped but a number of good aurors lost their lives including Susan's father. Her mother was grievously wounded but she was well on her way to recovery.

A few other deatheater's had picked out a random muggle neighborhood and had killed everyone in their sleep. A number of muggles were missing too, probably captured by Voldemort for a slow and painful death.

All this was in retaliation to the law which Madam Bones had recently passed. 'All wizards or witches branded by the dark mark were to be subjected to interrogation under the influence veritaserum.'

It had been passed so fast that it didn't give people like Lucius Malfoy, Nott, Macnair enough time to run and they were captured and held in a cell in the ministry itself with a Dementor guarding them each.

Also the project which the head of the department of mysteries, now called _Project Cleanliness_ was bearing fruit too. Out of the few hundred people they had interrogated, they had caught about 10 unbranded deatheater's and those who were unredeemable had been thrown through veil of death without any pity the others a choice, either spy for them or rot in Azkaban.

Several teams of obliviators were patrolling the streets of muggle London and were making sure that the truth about their existence wasn't revealed.

A lot of members in the Wizengamot were calling for the shutting down of Hogwarts because of the war but Dumbledore firmly maintained that Hogwarts was the safest place to be and also proposed that families whose life was in danger could take up temporary residence in the castle itself. This idea was met with a positive response and a lot of families had started living in the castle already.

And now after the attack on the minister, it was near impossible for unauthorized workers to get into the ministry of magic without setting siege to the place.

Diagon Alley was faring no better. People now hardly ventured there and if they did, they made sure they bought enough goods to last them for months. There were posters of wanted criminals everywhere along with several pamphlets flying about listing a set of important instructions along with the emergency floo address of the auror department.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Meanwhile in **Malfoy Manor** Voldemort wasn't staying idle. Last nights attacks were not as productive as he had hoped and his fury was felt by all his followers.

And loosing his supporters was doing nothing to calm his temper as Avery screamed louder and the dark lord's curse grew stronger.

A few seconds later the curse was lifted and Avery who kept twitching on the floor was dragged away by two deatheater's.

"SHUT UP!" screamed Voldemort suddenly and the already terrified deatheater's looked nervously at one and another wondering who their lord was talking to.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" he screamed again, his black eyes staring at nobody in particular. He took a deep breath and looked at his most trusted lieutenant, Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Bellatrix, gather up all the strongest of my men and prepare them."

"Yes my lord," she said bowing.

"The ministry is doing all it can to hide my existence from the muggles. But with our next attack there won't be anything to hide anymore and soon those pathetic creatures will learn to kneel before their new lord," he said as his face twisted into an ugly smile.

"Crouch!"

"Yes milord," said Crouch junior kneeling before Voldemort.

"Have you made any progress on the wards around Hogwarts?"

"We have identified some of the simpler wards and have found a way to disable them. But the further we go, the more dangerous and obscure the wards get," he said. "Feathers was burnt to crisp because of one misstep."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "I expect you to figure out a way to bring them down by the beginning of the next term."

"Yes my lord," whispered Crouch. He stepped forward and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes before swiftly leaving.

"Have you figured out how to break your husband out of his prison yet Narcissa?" he asked the blond witch coldly.

"A plan is still being worked out my lord," said Mrs. Malfoy.

"Tut tut, I expect better Narcissa," he said, his eyes boring into hers. "After all he is your beloved husband isn't he?"

"Y-yes my lord."

"Now get out," he hissed. "All of you."

" _Why don't you use the torture curse on her my dear Tom."_

"WILL YOU KEEP SHUT!" screamed Voldemort again and his deatheater's literally ran out of the room.

Every time Voldemort used dark magic, the voice in his head would start talking to him and it was talking more and more as each day passed by and it was driving him mad.

" _Use my power Voldemort and you'll grow even more powerful,"_ said the voice with a chuckle.

Voldemort looked around for someone to kill but then remembered he had ordered them out.

His scream of rage was heard by the deatheater's still remaining in the house and they ran faster to get away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Grimmauld Place**

It was nearing night fall and Harry was sitting glumly in his room. He was still finding it extremely difficult to clear his mind and so far he hadn't had any success when it came to that. Also it was difficult to practice when there was no one prodding his mind so he didn't know whether he was doing good or not.

Plus later that day he had heard even more bad news. It seemed that due the danger of muggleborns being attacked, Granger and her parents including Lillian and her father had moving to Grimmauld place until powerful wards could be erected around their houses.

"You in there Harry?" said Sirius knocking on the door.

"Yeah."

"Come downstairs then, Molly has prepared some delicious looking food and I'm sure you don't want to miss it."

Harry sighed. He remembered her cooking alright. And no, he certainly was not going to miss it.

He opened the door and came out surprising Sirius. "That was fast," said Sirius in surprise. "I half expected you to through a fit!"

Harry shrugged. "My stomach needs food," he said.

The dining table had been magically expanded to fit all the inhabitants of the house. And Harry grimaced upon hearing the amount of noise being generated.

Mr. Weasley was sitting with Percy and Mr. and Mrs. Granger talking excitably with them. Lillian and sitting with Hermione and Ron and she nodded slightly in his direction. Sirius headed towards the twins who were talking to each other in low voices.

Harry sat besides Mr. Austin, Lillian's father as the rest of the places were occupied and he had no intention of sitting with the twins.

"So you're Harry huh?" said Mr. Austin suddenly.

"Yeah I am," replied Harry. "Frec… I mean Lillian told you about me huh?"

"Yes she did. And I remember you accompanying that Professor from your school. You were quite short and thin back then."

"I guess I grew up then," said Harry. "What did Lillian say about me though?" he asked curiously.

"Oh she says a lot of things," replied Mr. Austin with a laugh. "But more or less she says that you're a scumbag with a good heart."

Harry frowned. "Well she's a dumb blonde who acts before she thinks."

"Well she's not blonde and she's certainly not dumb," replied Mr. Austin smiling. "But I do disapprove of her current hair style."

Harry looked at her and noticed that she had added a pair of orange stripes to her hair.

"It does make her look ugly," said Harry.

"I think it looks cool and funky," said Sirius joining in. "And I think you like her."

Mr. Austin burst out laughing at the expression on Harry's face.

"I think she likes you too but it might take some time for her to realize that," he said.

"You both are mad," said Harry in disgust. "And I think I've just lost my appetite."

"Oh come on Harry, it was a joke!" said Sirius laughing.

"It wasn't funny!"

After they had eaten their full Sirius led most of the kids out to help him throw away some Black heirlooms.

Hermione and Lillian decided to check out the Black library and Harry decided to settle down in his favorite while listening to the adults talk.

The Grangers were sitting nearby listening to Arthur Weasley explain the situation in the wizarding world while Donald Austin had taken a seat next to Harry.

"That chair looks comfortable," he said taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"It is," agreed Harry, "No one sits in it but me."

"You got a light?" he asked Harry.

"No, but I have a wand."

Harry took out his wand and lit a small flame long enough for Mr. Austin.

"Does your daughter know you smoke?"

"She does, but she knows I only smoke when I'm stressed out."

"So what do you do for a living Mr. Austin?"

"I work in an insurance company," he replied.

"Oh, okay," said Harry and he went back to staring at the others around him.

A few minutes passed by and a few order members passed by to take some rest from whatever it was that they were doing.

"Could you light another one for me Harry?" asked Donald having finished his first cigarette.

"Sure," said Harry.

"Your parents aren't here?" asked Donald suddenly. "I'd love to have a chat with them."

Harry looked at the man in surprise. "Lillian didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"They died when I was one. They were murdered by Voldemort."

"Oh! I'm sorry," he apologized. "My wife died when Lillian was one."

"I know. It was a car accident wasn't it?"

"Lillian told you?"

"We exchanged a few stories."

"Then she must trust you because she hates to talk about it," he said smiling sadly.

"How did the accident happen?" asked Harry. He knew it was insensitive of him but that hadn't stopped him before.

"Hmmm… it was Halloween I think," said Donald. "We were passing through a small village when suddenly there was a sudden great blast of wind which lifted our car right off the ground and we went rolling until it crashed into a tree."

"A blast of wind?"

"It was sort of a bluish kind. The authorities at the hospital told me that a power station had blown up nearby and it was an electromagnetic pulse that hit us."

"Wow," said Harry, his eyebrows raised. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," replied Lillian's father. "I've made my peace with that chapter of my life."

"Which village was it though?"

"Hmmm, I think it was called Godric's swallow or something like that," he said taking a long drag.

Harry sat up straight at that. "I'm sorry what!"

"Godric's something was the village's name? Why?"

"N-no reason," stammered Harry and he quickly got out of his chair.

"Where are you going?"

"Just off to bed," replied Harry. "Goodnight Mr. Austin."

"Call me Donald or Don for short."

Harry just smiled and hurried out of the room to look for Sirius.

He found Sirius in the Black tapestry room with the rest of his school mates. They were busy blasting names of the tree.

"Can I talk to you Sirius?" asked Harry.

"Sure what's up?"

"In private!"

"Wait up kids," he said. "We've still got a bunch of other names to blast off."

Harry pulled Sirius into the opposite room which held a bunch of trophies and quickly locked and silenced the room.

"What's wrong Harry?" asked Sirius looking concerned.

"I've got a question for you," said Harry.

"Shoot."

"Imagine you killed a wizard."

"What!"

"Just listen!" snapped Harry. "Now imagine a wizard or witch is killed, is it possible that when they die their magic sort of explodes?"

"Sure," replied Sirius. "Voldemort is a perfect example. When the killing curse bounced of you he didn't die but instead he was blasted out his body and his body along with his magic exploded almost bringing the house down on you."

"Then how did he get his magic back?"

"Who knows," said Sirius with a shrug. "Probably some dark ritual."

"Now what if there was a person close by when it happened. Could he or she be affected?"

Sirius looked thoughtful. "Well I suppose it could affect them. Muggles and adult wizards probably wouldn't be affected but it could affect children."

"How?"

"A child's core is very volatile, so if they were in an area when such a blast took place then their cores could grow to become stronger or in case of muggle children, it could awaken their magical abilities."

"If the wizard had some special abilities could those abilities be transferred?"

"I don't know. It might depend on their closeness to the blast site. Are you wondering about your Parselmouth ability?"

"Sort of," replied Harry. On the inside he was tremendously excited. This could explain everything about Lillian. How she could speak Parseltongue and maybe she was born a witch but because of being near a magical blast site, her core had evolved and made her a fire elemental.

It could explain how he became an elemental too.

"Don't worry about it Harry," said Sirius snapping Harry out of his high speed thought process.

"Huh? Worry about what?"

"About your Parselmouth ability."

"Oh yeah, sure. Thanks Sirius," said Harry and hurried back to his room. He needed to think.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was close to 1 am in the night when Lillian felt someone shake her.

"Wake up," whispered the voice.

"Lemme sleep," she said groggily.

"Freckles wake up!" whispered the voice again shaking her harder.

It was then she registered the voice and the name it had called her and she sat up like a bolt smashing into its head in the process.

She fell back on the bed clutching her head while Harry had fallen off the bed clutching _his_ head in pain.

"What the hell are you doing here!" she said angrily.

"Your head is hard as hell," said Harry standing up.

"So is yours," she snapped. "Now what are you doing here!"

"Need your help with something," he whispered.

"With what?"

"I'll tell you when you get dressed."

"Tell me first and then I'll come," she whispered back.

Sighing Harry raised his lit wand in her face. "Just get dressed Freckles," he said. "I can see your tits through that gown."

"What!" she gasped and quickly looked down in horror. Harry was right, in the light it was easy to see through her night gown.

"You!" she growled angrily but Harry and already leaped back sniggering.

"Just get dressed and come out!"

Five minutes later Lillian had hastily pulled on some jeans and put a shirt on.

"You look hideous," commented Harry.

"This better be good Potter," she said glaring, but the effect was lost as she yawned.

She followed Harry to his room and he directed her to sit on the bed while he began rummaging through one of his drawers.

"Got it," he announced turning back towards her.

"Got what?" she asked sleepily.

"This is a portkey to my ancestral home," he said, showing her the triangular device.

Lillian blinked twice.

"What?"

"I said this is a portkey which will take us to my ancestral home!"

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "So why are you showing it to me?"

Harry sighed. "Consider it like a symbol of my trust."

"Huh?"

"I want you to come with me," said Harry grimacing. This was very hard for him to do! "Be my back up or something like that."

Lillian frowned. "Is this some kind of a trick? Sort of revenge for sticking that sign on your back?"

"That was you!" gasped Harry.

"Okay I suppose its not," replied Lillian wincing.

"That was NOT funny!"

"It sure was," she said grinning.

Harry took a deep calming breath remembering the purpose of calling her.

"Anyway, all I was trying to say is that I want you to come with me."

Lillian folded her legs and looked at Harry with still lingering suspicion. "Why? I'm sure you would rather do this sort of a thing on your own."

"Why can't you just accept my offer without any questions!" asked Harry exasperatedly.

"I know you wouldn't."

"Alright," said Harry with a sigh. "Alright fine."

Lillian gestured at him to go on.

"Today I was talking with your father and came to this startling conclusion that _you_ trust me… completely and I realized you knew everything about me and still haven't told anyone including your best friends so I thought you would consider this as a symbol of my trust towards you."

It took Lillian a few seconds to process that.

"Wow," she said. "Thanks I guess."

"So you want to come or not?"

She jumped of the bed grinning, "I'd love to!"

"Great! Now just place your finger on this and we can leave," he said showing her the portkey.

After she had placed her finger on it Harry looked at her solemnly.

"What?" she asked him.

"There's something else I need to tell you."

"What," she asked, a feeling of dread filling up inside her.

"I know how you can speak Parseltongue."

"WHAT!"

" _Domus_ ," said Harry grinning from ear to ear whisking them away into a vortex of color.


	40. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37 – Ancestry Revealed? Part 2**

The two landed hard on the ground after a rough ride and immediately Lillian rounded on Harry her eyes blazing.

"What did you mean when you said that!"

"Whoa easy there," said Harry laughing. "There's spit flying from your mouth."

"Explain NOW!" she yelled.

"Where are we?" said Harry instead looking around.

They were surrounded by a thick white fog and couldn't see anything more than a foot away. There was no wind blowing and no sound either. It felt like they were in the middle of nothingness and they would have believed they were floating too if they weren't able to the feel the hard ground beneath their feet.

Lillian conjured a ball of fire in her hand to look ahead. "We seem to be standing on a footpath," she said.

Harry took a step forward and the fog seemed to part gently revealing more of the path.

Slowly they started moving forward and the fog kept moving away with every step they took.

"What did you mean when you said you know how I can speak Parseltongue?" asked Lillian again. This time quietly and calmly.

"Your mother died the same night as my parent's right?"

"Yes, what does that have to with this?"

"The car accident happened very close to the house in which my parents were killed and where Voldemort was defeated."

"Huh?"

Harry then explained all that he had discovered after talking to her father and Sirius to a very confused Lillian. And after Harry had finished his explanation Lillian was at a loss for words.

"So do you think it's possible?" Harry asked her observing her closely.

"I, I don't know," she said. "It all seems a little surreal to me."

"I know it sounds kind of outlandish but if you think about it, it does make sense."

Lillian shook her head and gave a small laugh. "I don't want to believe it even though it sounds very possible," admitted Lillian. "I feel kind of dirty knowing I became a witch because of Voldemort's magic."

Harry shrugged. "I don't think of it like that," said Harry. "Just think of it magic and nothing else. Think of it was a gift of magic."

Lillian rolled her eyes. "That's sounds super lame Harry."

"If it makes you feel better that doesn't matter," he said smiling.

"I guess this is another thing we have in common," she said.

"I hope there's nothing… WOW!" Harry's sentence was left incomplete as they came across to huge wrought iron gates. There was a large intricately designed 'M' in the center of each gate.

One was hanging off a single rusted hinge and the other was half open. It was a picture one associated with classic haunted houses.

"These must be bigger than the gates at Hogwarts," commented Lillian.

Harry tried to push one of the gates open wider but instead it came crashing down with a loud clang and broke into two pieces.

Harry and Lillian looked at each other amused. "Wonder how old they must be to break by your touch," said Lillian.

"Really old," said a grinning Harry. He could feel the excitement building in him. "Come on, the house must he just ahead."

And sure enough about 10 meters further the fog suddenly cleared and before them stood a small castle which seemed to be at the end of its life. It looked to have about four to five floors and if compared to Hogwarts it was maybe smaller than a quarter of the school. The moon hung above it making its haunted look more profound.

The castle wall was broken in several places and out of the four towers it seemed to have had only one was intact.

"Think they'll be any scary ghosts in there?" asked Lillian.

"Let's find out," muttered Harry lighting the end of his wand.

The front door of the castle was lying in pieces and when Lillian directed her ball of fire inside they both jumped back and held on to each other in shock!

Lying right beyond the broken pieces of the door was a skeleton with almost worn out clothes and it had a sword stuck through its head.

Almost immediately the shock wore of and they let go of each other and pretended it didn't happen.

"You know, I thought your ancestral house or rather _castle_ would be the right word would be something grand!" said Lillian disappointedly, "Not some place which looked like it was about to fall apart and had corpses all over."

"I thought so too," said Harry dryly. He really didn't know what to make of the place.

CRUNCH.

"Urgh," said Lillian, "I think I just stepped on a skull!"

"Those might be my ancestors you know," said Harry. "Don't crush them!"

"Yes boss," she said, amused.

They now proceeded slowly and cautiously through the entrance way and came across a few more skeletons. Some had their skull parted from them and others seemed to have their ribs crushed.

"Aren't there any torch brackets here?" said Harry, shining his light on the walls.

"Found some," said Lillian and lit one with her fire. As soon she lit one, the other brackets starting flickering to life illuminating their way forward.

Now that there was some light, they felt like they were in the sewers but thankfully without the smell. There were patches of moss growing on the walls lots of broken rotting furniture everywhere.

They carefully maneuvered themselves around the corpses and saw the corridor widen ahead of them. It was a huge hall and had more bodies lying all over. Some were decapitated and some were missing several limbs.

The walls were most black indicating that a fire might have raged through the room. There was a lot of broken glass around which seemed to be once part of a beautiful chandelier. Also there a lot of pottery and curios lying around which looked like one touch would turn them to dust. At one corner of the room there was a large table which was surprisingly intact.

"Either all these people killed each other or there was someone who had a _very_ serious issue with your ancestors," said Lillian.

"Let's keep looking," said Harry.

"Look for what!"

"Anything that will give us a clue to tell us what happened here."

"A massacre is what happened here," grumbled Lillian.

They entered the next room which seemed to be a burnt down library. They found some stairs leading upstairs and decided to explore the higher landings first but they were broken midway.

"So how do we go up now?" asked Lillian.

Harry just rolled his eyes and placed his hand at the foot of the staircase. Slowly the floor and the stairs started to freeze and not before long, in place of the broken stairs there was now a staircase made of ice.

There was smoke rising from the ice and added with the dim lights from the torches it gave the stairs a very enchanted look.

"Careful not to melt them," Harry told the fire elemental as the made their way up.

"Show off," muttered Lillian rolling her eyes.

The next floor was massive too and it had at little over 10 rooms.

There was one room which seemed to be a weapons room, another was just a large empty room, _another_ room where there was just ash and after careful examination it seemed they had once been portraits.

The next floor and the two floors above that also seemed to pretty much the same, the only difference being there were lesser bodies the higher they went.

"Harry let's just get out of here," whispered Lillian. "All we've come across are about 50 skeletons, all who seem to have been killed very creatively.

"There's got to be something," said Harry frowning.

"Well there's nothing! This is the last room and there's nothing! We've probably been searching for an hour or two and in another three people will start waking at your _real_ home!"

Harry ignored her. "Let's go downstairs," he said. "There were more rooms we didn't search and I'm pretty sure there's a basement too or dungeons as a matter of fact."

Sighing Lillian followed him down. She didn't complain more because she knew Harry was just trying to find out more about his family and the reason why there were so many dead bodies here. She couldn't imagine how Harry might be feeling right now.

Once downstairs they found the kitchen and another staircase which seemed to be going down.

Harry turned it into ice as it looked like it would collapse if even one foot was placed on it.

When they went downstairs they were shocked at what they found. There were no bodies down there but there were numerous metal handcuffs hanging from the wall at regular intervals and the floor seemed to be stained with dry blood too. There were no bodies but they knew what kind of a room this was.

The mystery that was the castle suddenly seemed to becoming clearer to the two.

"It seems like there used to be slaves here," said Lillian carefully observing Harry.

"And it looks like they revolted and killed every one of their masters," said Harry grimly.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Harry with a laugh. It was true; he wasn't feeling bad at all! "If my ancestors were such kind of people, I'm glad they're dead."

"That's not why I'm sorry," said Lillian. "I'm sorry because I know this was not what you were expecting to find and as a matter of fact neither was I."

Harry gave her a half hearted smile. "Come on," he said. "I spotted a couple of other doors leading out from the entrance hall."

The last room they came across was another huge dome shaped room which seemed to be like a ball room for hosting big occasions.

"I guess that's it," said Harry with a sigh. "But now I know why this place was kept such a secret by my family."

"What do you mean?"

Harry then told her about Sirius and his mission in Paris and how they found the portkey in the Mona Lisa.

When Harry finished his story Lillian burst out laughing. "I knew you two were lying that day," she said. "And if we hadn't gone to that world you would have never found this house too!"

"Makes you think all of it was preplanned doesn't it?" said Harry.

"I don't believe in fate or destiny," said Lillian firmly to Harry but Harry's attention was elsewhere.

"Harry?"

"Do hear that?" he said softly.

"Hear what?"

"Listen!"

She did and then she heard it. It was the sound wind makes when blowing through a small space. A shrill whistling sound, but it was very low and easy to miss.

They started walking silently trying to find the source. They found it next to the entrance of the ball room right next to the door.

"This is it!" thought Harry excitedly.

Heart pounding Harry placed his hands on that section of the wall and pushed.

Harry exchanged a glance with Lillian when the wall moved back and started shifting sideways revealing a well lit corridor in front of them.

There were two doors on either side of the corridor and what seemed to be a large portrait at the end of the corridor.

Harry could hardly keep his excitement contained as he walked towards the portrait. Lillian held his hand in anticipation and Harry didn't complain.

The portrait was of an extremely beautiful woman wearing a green gown. She was sitting on a gold chair with her hands folded on her lap looking at a mirror in front of her. She wore a kind smile and she looked innocent, elegant and captivating.

But her reflection in the mirror was different. Her eyes were slightly narrowed and her lips were thinner. The smile she had in it was one of sadistic pleasure which made her seem both beautiful _and_ dangerous.

"I haven't had visitors in decades."

The two elementals jumped back in fear again and this time fell on their back sides. They _certainly_ weren't expecting the portrait to talk on them after finding nothing magical in the house.

The lady stood up and looked at them interestedly. "You're just children," she said. Her voice was sweet, melodious and enchanting.

Having regained their composure the two stood up and moved closer to the portrait.

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

"I was the lady of this house," replied the woman. "And my name is Vivian."

"I'm Harry and this is Lillian," said Harry and Lillian just waved weakly.

"My granddaughter was named Lillian," said Vivian, "But she was much more stunning than you," she added.

Harry's eyebrows shot up and Lillian's eyes narrowed.

"That's, err very interesting," said Harry, "But could you tell us what happened to everyone in this house?"

Vivian looked at Harry closely, "You are my descendent," she said, a delighted smile growing on her face. "I'm glad that my blood still lives on."

"So could you tell me the history of our family?" asked Harry hesitantly.

"What do you want to know?" she asked leaning back in her chair. Harry was finding it very hard not to stare at her.

"Let's start with you," said Lillian. She was starting to dislike the portrait and had a burning itch to burn it down.

"Was I talking to you little girl?" said Vivian coldly.

"Let's start with you," said Harry hurriedly not wanting any unnecessary interruptions. "I mean were you born in this house or did you get married to someone in it?"

Vivian laughed. "I told you I was the lady of the house. I was one who started this family before they were exterminated."

"Exterminated by whom?" asked Harry, eager to know the truth. He conjured a chair for him and for Lillian to sit knowing that this would probably take a while.

Vivian raised an eyebrow. "That was good spell work," she commented.

"Thank you."

"Well since you're the first visitor I've had in decades I'll tell you the story about the rise and fall of the house of the McDougan's."

"McDougan's?"

"That is your last name, is it not?" asked Vivian sitting back in her chair.

"It's Potter," replied Harry.

"So she changed her name after all," she muttered in disgust.

Harry didn't interrupt. Both he and Lillian looked at her with rapt attention. They could sense that this was going to be interesting.

"I was born an orphan," began Vivian. "My father had died in battle and my mother in child birth. Till the age of 4, my aunt took care of me until Queen Morgana came and decided to take me under her tutelage."

Lillian gasped out loud. "Are you the same Vivian who enchanted Merlin?!"

Vivian laughed, "Looks like my name _hasn't_ been forgotten!"

"Holy Christ," said Harry in shock. "According to history, you went on an expedition with him to learn magic and came back alone."

"Let me tell the story dear Harry," she purred softly. "Now as I was saying, Morgana took me under her wing and started teaching me all about magic. She had several children studying under her and her plan was to build an army strong enough to overthrow King Arthur.

I was the most brilliant, the strongest and the most beautiful of her students," she added with pride. "But I had an ambition, an ambition to become the strongest of witches and wizards. Queen Morgana's silly dream was not about to get in my way."

Vivian flicked her long black her behind and gazed at the two with cold blue eyes. It was amazing how life like the portrait was.

"Morgana knew that if she had to destroy Arthur, she needed to get rid of Merlin. So when I was seventeen she decided to send me to get Merlin away from Arthur.

Merlin had a weak spot for young beautiful girls like me and with a ring which Morgana had given me, Merlin soon became by pet," she said with a giggle.

"It was very amusing to watch a man of his stature reduced to following a young gorgeous girl and obeying her every word."

Harry and Lillian were completely captivated by her voice and story.

"Merlin wanted to marry me and make love to me but I told him I would do so only if he taught me everything he knew about magic.

So Merlin, I and a few maids travelled up north to the mountains where over the next three years he began to teach me all he knew." She paused for a moment and observed Harry and Lillian's expressions.

Looking satisfied she continued. "This castle you are in was conjured by him you know," said Vivian.

"The night Merlin declared he had taught me everything he knew, he threw a grand party to celebrate the completion of my education and that was the night he also decided to ask my hand in marriage.

It was very romantic," she said lowering her voice. "He went down on one knee and presented me with the most beautiful ring you could possibly imagine."

Vivian sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Poor Merlin, I do wish he lived."

"How did you kill him?" whispered Harry.

"I almost forgot the best part," said Vivian smiling. "When he proposed, I of course said yes to honor our agreement. It was pointless to give him poison or try to kill him with magical prowess because he had enough skill to detect any poisons and enough experience to block any attacks. So I had to improvise. I put the poison in my mouth and had the antidote put in my wine and then I kissed him," she whispered.

"A _long_ passionate kiss which lasted long enough for me to slowly slip the poison from my mouth to his mouth without him realizing it. And then I took a sip of my wine and watched him choke to his death."

Her voice had gone so low that Harry and Lillian had to lean forward to hear her.

"It was unfortunate," she said, her voice reaching normal volumes again. "But it had to be done."

"Why?" asked Lillian. "Why do you have to kill him?"

"The enchantment on the ring which made him fall madly in love with me would have never gone and I didn't want an old love sick man begging me to make _love_ to him where ever I went," she said sharply.

"And then what?" asked Harry. He wanted to know everything!

"With the knowledge I had? I could do whatever I wanted! But first I decided I wanted a child. A child who would ensure that my legacy grew on and I would never be forgotten.

But whom to chose as the father?" she said. "At first I thought Arthur would be the perfect person to father my child but I decided against it as he didn't have any magic in him. So I chose Sir Lancelot, a knight in Arthur's court."

Vivian sighed. "I can still feel the touch of his mouth upon my breast and the wonderful feeling I experienced when he buried himself in me."

Harry and Lillian were determined not to look at each other at this point. Both had turned red and knew looking at each other would just be extremely awkward.

"He was handsome; he was strong and had great magical strength which sadly he never knew off. With his qualities I knew my child would be a god amongst wizards and witches."

"Did you enchant him too?" asked Lillian.

"No I did not," replied Vivian. "No man would ever say no to me. All I had to do was walk into his room and ask him to make love to me and we made wonderful love. I must confess I've had a lot of men but none compared to Lancelot, he certainly knew how to please a woman. Not even King Arthur could match him in that area."

"You slept with King Arthur!" gasped Lillian and Harry simply stared at the portrait with his mouth open.

"Well Arthur I had to enchant. He was very loyal to his wife.  
Even though I had no interest in him, it seemed very appealing to me to sleep with a king," she said smirking.

"Was his wife loyal to him?" asked Harry with interest.

"Lancelot was a very charming man too," replied Vivian answering their question.

Harry and Lillian finally looked at each other. Both had an expression of awe.

"Wait what happened after that!" asked Harry.

"When my son was born, Arthur had died and the kingdom had fallen into chaos. Morgana tried to take over the land but it was easy for me to kill her and stop her march."

"You killed Morgana too!"

"She was getting in my way," replied Vivian coldly without a hint of remorse. "Slowly I took over most of the kingdom and it was a time where witches and wizards ruled comfortably over the non magical folk.

My son grew up just as I expected him to and soon our family grew just as our power over the land grew. This portrait of mine was made when I was 26 and I died when I was around thirty five I think."

"You died? How?"

"My portrait contains the memories of all I had done prior to that so I do not know. But from what my children told me, it was some sort of illness which they could not cure no matter how hard they tried."

"So the evil queen died," commented Lillian.

Vivian narrowed her eyes. "I was not an evil queen but I was a queen alright," she said. "I let the people live peacefully as long as the obeyed my laws."

"So what about the slaves?"

"Those who disobeyed were punished accordingly," she said coolly.

"That's just cruel," said Harry in disgust. "So what, then the slaves revolted and killed everyone?"

"Of course not," said Vivian laughing "As if they could do such a thing!"

"My son continued my rule and he made sure that my name was said with reverence throughout the land. But then he died too and there were none like him or me to keep our legacy going. The family grew too corrupt and too power hungry.

The only thing that was going for them was that every time someone took the name McDougan, they would remember my son and me and would bow down respectfully so no one ever opposed them."

"But then came that man," she said with a sigh. "I don't know how he found this castle but when he did he left none alive but one. I do not know what my descendents did to him but what he did was an act of revenge."

"Who was he?" asked Harry.

"He said his name was Salazar Slytherin," said Vivian. "And he left a sixteen year old girl by the name of Alice McDougan alive and I think she was the one who led him here. It would appear that she changed her name to Alice Potter after she left this house."

Both elemental's mind had stopped working at the mention of name _Salazar Slytherin._

"Slytherin was the one who killed everyone in this castle?" asked Harry with a quiver in his voice.

"I sure they deserved it," said Vivian cruelly. "After my first son died I did not care if this bloodline lived or died. But now I am glad it did because you look like a boy with immense power. Perhaps you could restore my legacy."

Harry laughed. "I doubt people would like to know that I am descended from the woman who was responsible for the death of Merlin."

"So Slytherin was responsible for killing all your ancestors huh," said Lillian. "I wonder why he left the girl alive though."

"Vivian said she could have led him here," muttered Harry. "Maybe she hated her family and wanted to escape. Just like Sirius wanted to escape his family."

"And when she did she changed her name to Potter she might have started a new life for herself," replied Lillian thoughtfully. "But I would have never have imagined that your families history could be _so_ twisted!"

"Wait a minute," said Harry turning back to the portrait. "What happened to Merlin's body?"

This time the picture of Vivian in the mirror turned towards them. "Why he's resting right beyond this portrait," she said cruelly.

"No way," whispered Harry.

"I didn't want to burn or bury his body so I enchanted his body and placed it in a coffin in this very house as a reminder to my family of my great achievement!"

"C-can we see it," asked Lillian. She had held on to Harry's hand again holding it tightly.

The Vivian in the mirror smiled and smoothly the entire portrait swung aside revealing a dimly lit room with a single coffin inside.

Each step they took felt a mile had been crossed and they stopped at the entrance. Harry tightened his grip around Lillian's hand and the stepped inside together.

There he was, the great wizard called Merlin. Once student under the youngest brother who fought the creature known as evil. The greatest wizard known to wizard kind.

You would think he was simply resting in that coffin which was made of stone.

His face was oddly wrinkle free and he had long white hair with a beard which was about half a foot long. He looked nothing like anyone would have imagined him to be. He seemed both young and old and he was dressed in black robes.

Harry and Lillian felt overwhelmed to be in the presence of such a man. Harry extended his hand and lightly touched the man's face.

"He's warm," he said in surprise.

"I never thought I would be seeing the body of Merlin," whispered Lillian. "I would have never imagined it in my entire lifetime."

They gazed at the body for a few more minutes in wonder and waited for their heart rates to go back to normal.

"Shall we go?" asked Harry after a while.

Lillian nodded. But before she left she conjured a red rose and placed it between his hands. Harry too conjured a white rose and placed it next to the red.

Both didn't want to turn their backs on a man like him so they walked out backwards and as soon as they were out the portrait shut the entrance.

"Beautiful and sad isn't it," said Vivian.

Harry nodded. "I guess we'll be going now," he said.

"Do come and visit sometime," said Vivian. "Even a portrait needs some company every decade or so."

"I will try too," said Harry wearily. "Also what is there behind those doors?"

"Treasure," replied Vivian. "We were a rich family. Slytherin destroyed everything in the castle but he was never able to find this room."

"Then how did you know it was him who destroyed everything?" asked Lillian.

"I had another portrait in the portrait room upstairs but that was burnt by him silly girl."

Lillian opened her mouth ready to respond with fury but Harry pulled her away.

"Oh Harry," called out Vivian.

"What?"

"How does it feel to know you're descended from the woman who had the power to kill Merlin?"

Harry paused to think. "It feels oddly brilliant," he admitted. "Others might be horrified but it feels amazing to know there is such a legacy in my blood."

"I'm glad," whispered Vivian and with that said she returned to her original position in the portrait.

"Want to see the treasure room before we leave?" he asked Lillian who was still glaring at the portrait.

"I just want to burn that damn evil bitch," replied Lillian. "Who does she think she is? Calling me a silly girl."

Harry started chuckling.

"Why are you all smiles scarhead," she snapped.

Harry just rolled his eyes and opened the door to the treasure room.

It was nothing special. There were just humungous piles of gold everywhere and lots of plates and goblets made of gold too.

The other room was also filled with gold but had several beautiful swords and shields.

Harry thought of sending it to Gringotts but then decided against it. They had been safe here for centuries and nobody could come here except for him.

"Shall we leave now?" asked Lillian.

Harry nodded and the pair left the small castle and headed out to the broken gates.

It was at that point Harry realized they didn't have a way to go back to Grimmauld place.

"Err… Freckles?"

"Ya?"

"This is a one way portkey. We don't have a way back."

Lillian's mouth dropped open. "Then how are we supposed to get back you moron!"

"Let me think," said Harry but inside he had no answers he hadn't learnt how to apparate nor how to create a portkey. How the hell were they supposed to get back!

"Hold it," said Lillian suddenly. "I think I can take us back."

"Really! How?"

"My elemental ability. I can transport myself with fire and I think I can take you along too!" she said excitedly.

"If you haven't forgotten, I'm a water elemental. Fire doesn't do anything good for me."

"It'll be alright," said Lillian impatiently. "When we were at the Flamel's, Nicolas taught me how to teleport myself and he made me practice taking him along too!"

Harry looked doubtful, "You sure you won't burn me?"

"Of course not," replied Lillian. "The first few times I burnt myself and Nick but then I got the hang of it and I've had a lot of practice since then."

Harry still looked doubtful.

"We don't have a choice you know," said Lillian. "You don't have a way back. I do and it's almost five in the morning. We _have_ to get back now!"

"Where are you going to teleport us?"

"Your room obviously," she said. "No one in the right mind would be there now."

"You sure you can take us?"

"YES!"

"Alright then," said Harry with a sigh. "What do I do?"

"Just hug me."

"Hug you!"

"YES!" she said exasperatedly.

Slowly Harry went forward and awkwardly placed his arms around her.

"You have to hug me tighter or I might not do it right," said Lillian in a small voice. She was suddenly feeling really weird about this too.

So Harry wrapped his arms around her tighter.

"You know having your tits pressed up against my chest was not exactly what I had in mind," he said uncomfortably.

Lillian glared at him. Their faces were just a few inches apart.

"Having your _thing_ pressed up against me was not what I had in mind either but we don't have a choice do we," she said angrily.

"No we don't," said Harry with a gasp. He was suddenly finding it difficult to breath. "Can we please go now?"

"Let me concentrate," said a blushing Lillian.

A fire enveloped the two and Harry was glad to see it wasn't burning him and then just like that there was flash of fire and their surroundings disappeared temporarily and when Harry opened his eyes they were standing in his room in Grimmauld place.

He immediately let go of Lillian and took at least 5 steps away from her.

"We are never doing that again," he said letting out a sigh of relief.

"I feel weird," murmured Lillian and then just fell forward.

Harry sprung into action and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Hey Freckles," he called in concern, "You alright?"

Her eyes fluttered open and then shut again.

Harry rapped her twice on her face to get her to wake up. "Freckles! Lillian!"

This time she opened her eyes and slowly got to her feet. "I feel dizzy and exhausted."

"It must have been a really long distance for you to be this tired."

"I guess," she muttered and then promptly fell asleep on his bed.

"Freckles! Freckles wake up! Lillian, Mary!" he said loudly while shaking her too but she didn't wake up. She was out cold.

"Damn it!"


	41. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38 – Return of the Lord**

Harry's occlumency training was not going well. Vacations were almost over and in the past two weeks he was yet to make any progress in the art of shielding his mind. The events that transpired in his ancestral home were in the past now and he needed to focus on his self training.

A few times Dumbledore would come and offer him some advice but much to Harry's frustration there had been no improvement in his skill whatsoever. Plus the headmaster telling him it was to be expected was not much of a motivator either.

With the number of people coming and going from the house, Harry was finding it very difficult to find time where he could practice his magic without the risk of being found out. It was easy to put up wards to prevent anyone from finding him but if someone accidently came across the wards then questions would rise as to why the wards were there in the first place.

Apart from those drawback his vacation had been quite fun. For most part he enjoyed talking and teasing Ginny just to wind up her band of brothers.

The little Weasley, in the beginning, was a little shy but after a while she opened up and Harry found her to be a very engaging person. Lillian would sometimes join them and soon a little bond of friendship had formed between the three of them, _a very, very little bond!_

Also there had been no major attacks by Voldemort since the attacks on Madam Bones, the top ministry officials and the Weasley's which was somewhat of a relief _and_ a concern to the public.

But the reason for the inactivity was that Voldemort had stopped using his magic for reasons unknown to his deatheaters. And the ministry was eliminating deatheaters with surprising speed.

Some were caught legally and most, illegally.

It was safe to say that at this point, the ministry had gained the upper hand in the war and Voldemort was steadily loosing his men.

Presently, it was January the 2nd and most of the residents of number 12 Grimmauld place were lazing around in the living room bathing in the warmth the fire place had to offer.

Harry and Sirius were having a thumb fight. Lillian and Ginny were by the fire and Ginny was changing the colour of Lillian's hair every few minutes patiently waiting for the fire elemental to settle on a colour she liked.

Ronald and Mr. Austin were playing a game of chess, which the older man was loosing spectacularly. Hermione was helping Mr. Austin but it was of no use. Ronald was brilliant at the game, which was somewhat a contradiction since most believed he had no brain power at all!

The twins were hiding behind a sofa and were quietly changing the colour of Percy's clothes and making funny designs on them while Percy oblivious to that was in a serious conversation with his father (who was trying hard not to laugh) about the progress the ministry was making in the war.

Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen with Hermione's mother and Tonks and was busy teaching them the various recipes she knew.

Mr. Granger and a few other order members were sitting on the dining table playing poker and so far it was Mundungus Fletcher who had the largest stack on chips beside him. There was also a ward around the table making sure none of the wives in the house knew what was going on at that table.

It was like no one had any worries and the ongoing war was all but forgotten. Leaving out Percy of course, who simply couldn't stop singing praises about the ministry of magic and his ambition to become the minister in the future.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

In another part of the wizarding world Lord Voldemort was in a deep state of meditation. He was determined to stamp the voice in his head out of him and gain control over the power that came along with it.

Right now he was systematically going through every memory in his mind looking for the source of the voice which was trying to control his mind, body and emotions. He knew that if the voice was part of his subconscious, he would find its origin in his memories but if it was not, he would have to look deeper into his mangled soul to find the solution to his problem.

He wasn't known as the most powerful dark lord for nothing and he would find a way to get rid of that voice. And once he did, he would have enough power to singlehandedly topple the ministry and take over the wizarding world.

All he needed to do was be patient.

Under the same roof was Draco Malfoy who frankly, was miserable. His father was under suspicion by the ministry but he had made sure there wasn't enough evidence to take him into custody. Unfortunately it was not enough to protect him from the new project undertaken by the department of mysteries. Every time he stepped out he was always on his guard and there was an instance where they had tried to capture him but he wasn't one of the dark lord's favourites for nothing. His mother was working hard to keep the insane followers of the dark lord under control while protecting her son at the same time. All that stress was taking toll on her and she was now sporting dark circles under her eyes. She had lost a lot of weight and the once beautiful woman was a pale shadow of her former self.

Draco was beginning to understand what his father meant when he said he would regret it if he served under the dark lord and was now desperately wishing for a way out of this hell hole.

"Why hello little Draco!" came the cackling voice of his aunt Bellatrix and Draco shuddered in fear.

"Mother!" he called out nervously. "Auntie Bellatrix is here."

Pureblood domination be damned if this was the life he was going to lead, he thought bitterly as his mother quickly rushed into the room and craftily led Bellatrix out without offending the psychotic witch.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"The day has come," thought Harry joyously. It was time to go back to Hogwarts and he was already packed and ready to leave.

Since the Hogwarts express was shut down for obvious reasons, the ministry had provided students with a portkey to the Hogsmeade station. For those living close to one another there was a common portkey but since the number 12 Grimmauld place did not exist in the eyes of the ministry, the students in the headquarters were leaving for Hogwarts by floo.

"Can't I just leave already?" Harry asked Sirius impatiently.

"Mad eye wants you all to leave together," replied Sirius. "He thinks it's safer that way."

Harry rolled his eyes. "How does it matter? It's a one way journey with no stops on the way."

Sirius shook his head. "He says it's possible to be kidnapped while in the floo network so he's going to drop you off one by one."

"Talk about being paranoid," muttered Harry.

"He _is_ in charge of security Harry. So it's pointless to argue with him."

Harry sighed. "Where the hell is everybody then? Aren't they supposed to be down already?"

"Mary and Hermione are sitting in the kitchen and the Weasley kids are still getting ready," he said smiling.

"How much time do they need!"

Sirius shrugged. "They're a big family."

Harry sighed again and sank lower into his sofa.

"Be careful at Hogwarts Harry," said Sirius suddenly.

"What? Why?" asked Harry frowning.

"I'm sure you know that Voldemort has gone AWOL for the past few weeks."

Harry nodded.

"Well his deatheaters are getting impatient and they want to please their lord. Do something to get rewarded or stuff like that," said Sirius seriously.

"So?"

"What better that gifting the boy who lived to Voldemort?" he said. "Snape told us in one of our meetings that a few deatheaters are recruiting some of your seniors in an effort to kidnap you."

"And they're doing it without Voldemort knowing about it?"

Sirius nodded.

"They'll do anything to gain his favour. So you better be careful. Don't accept anything from anyone and make sure your friends _are_ your friends and not polyjuiced ones."

"Don't worry Sirius," said Harry. "I can take care of myself."

"You probably can," replied his godfather. "But all I'm asking you to do is be on your guard and don't under any circumstances stray outside the wards of Hogwarts."

"Got it," said Harry with a smile. Even though he knew he was strong enough to fight off any attempt made to kidnap him, it felt good to know someone cared for him, genuinely.

"What about the others? Don't they get the same warning?" asked Harry.

"Moody will be lecturing them," said Sirius. "I told Moody that I'd give you the warning myself."

Right then Moody came marching into the room followed by the entire Weasley family and Lillian and Hermione with their parents.

He noticed Lillian's hair came down past her shoulders and it was now a shade darker than light brown. "After three hours of switching colours she settles on brown," thought Harry with a snort. A little voice at the back of his mind added, "But it looks good doesn't it?"

Harry chose to ignore that.

"Are you ready Potter," he barked.

Harry nodded.

He glanced at Sirius and Sirius gave a slight nod confirming that he had told Harry to watch out.

"Alright then. Potter, into the floo you go. Austin will go next followed by Granger and finally the Weasley's," he growled. "Are there any questions?"

There were several grunts of agreement and Harry in the mean time had dragged his trunk and himself into the fireplace awaiting Moody.

"Good," he said gruffly and squeezed beside Harry in the fireplace. "Hogwarts!" he yelled and they disappeared in a blaze of green flames.

Harry was propelled out of the fire place in Dumbledore's office and he quickly got of the way to make way for his trunk. Moody followed after and Harry was annoyed to see that the auror had stepped out of the fireplace as cool as a cucumber.

"Did anybody try to grab you?" he barked.

"No sir," said Harry, dusting the soot from his clothes.

"Good. You can go to your common room now," he said and stepped back into the floo. "And Potter," he called.

Harry turned around to see what the mad auror wanted now!

"Constant vigilance!" he shouted while his magical eye started spinning furiously in its socket.

"I'll keep that in mind," replied Harry wearily and was thankful to see the auror vanish from the fireplace.

Not wanting to meet anyone else coming from Grimmauld place and eager to go and lay on his bed before the feast started, Harry quickly left the headmasters office. He knew his trunk would somehow find its way to his room.

-x-x-x-x-x-

After an hour of lazing the bedroom banged open and in walked in his best friend Blaise.

"You took my side of the room!" accused Blaise the moment he saw Harry.

Harry laughed. It felt good to be back.

"Are you sure Blaise?" he said pretending to be confused. "I saw a playboy on the other bed so I assumed that was yours."

Blaise glanced at the magazine and found that was indeed his. He frowned hard wondering if he had really forgotten which bed was his.

"Stop thinking so hard Blaise!" exclaimed Harry. "It's just a bed."

Blaise narrowed his eyes and then his face broke out into a grin. "I must be a little disoriented after that long portkey ride," he said. "It's good to see you."

Harry smirked. That was surprisingly easy! "Good to see you too," he said. "Where were you for it to take the portkey a while to reach Hogwarts?"

"Italy," said Blaise. "The moment the dark lord made his presence known my family packed their bags and left the country."

Harry frowned. It sounded cowardly to him but he didn't comment.

"It's better than having to choose a side," said Blaise reading Harry's mind. "I've told you before that the Zabini's like staying neutral."

"I'm not going to judge," said Harry hastily. "Thanks for the gift by the way," he added. "It was nice."

"You too," he said. "That Cosmopolitan gave me a lot of important info."

Harry grinned. "For a person who doesn't have a lot of girl friends you take surprising amounts of pain to make sure they're taken good care of."

Blaise raised his head high. "I was born to love girls, not just remain friends with them. Once I feel I'm knowledgeable enough to understand the psyche of a woman I'll start to romance them."

Harry rolled his eyes. "And how many girls do you intend to _romance?"_

"It could be just one or maybe even ten. But once I find the perfect girl for me, I'll never let her go," he said dreamily while Harry just rolled his eyes.

"You should have been born a girl!"

"There's no harm in being a sensitive guy," chided Blaise.

"Weren't you the one telling me that you were proud that I was just dating Daphne for the snogging?" questioned Harry, amused.

"I was proud because just a few months prior to that you were painfully oblivious to the hot girls that were around you," retorted Blaise. "A few times I even thought you were gay!"

Harry winced. "Let's go the great hall," he said quickly, not wanting Blaise to start about his ignorance in that department.

"What time is it?" asked Blaise.

"6:30," replied Harry. "The feast starts at 7:00."

On their way down they met up with the other Slytherin third years and Harry noticed that Malfoy had lost weight and his usual haughty, arrogant expression was no longer there. When they entered the great hall Harry was even more surprised to see another table next to the Professor's table which was occupied by several people. It then struck him that they were the families who had taken sanctuary in Hogwarts.

Once everybody was seated Dumbledore rose and cleared his throat loudly.

Silence fell over the entire hall.

"Welcome back," he said, smiling under his beard. "I hope you had a good time with your families in these dangerous times."

He paused and gazed at all five tables.

"Due to the war, Hogwarts has granted refuge to those fear attack from the deatheaters and to those who cannot afford to place strong wards around their homes. The north and east wing of the sixth floor has been opened up to these families and they have promised to stay out of the way of the students during classes. If some of your parents are living in the castle then you can choose to stay with them or remain in your common rooms.

For all those of you feel Hogwarts is vulnerable to attack than let me assure you that not matter how hard Voldemort tries," Dumbledore ignored the gasps at the name of the dark lord, "he will not be able to enter this castle as long as I am here," said Dumbledore putting to ease some of the concerns several families and students had.

"Also please do not be lulled into a false sense of security since there haven't been any attacks by Voldemort," There were numerous gasps and shrieks this time around, "The danger is still present and will not disappear until he is defeated. So if you ever leave the castle for whatever reasons you might have, _please_ be on your guard!"

Once again his eyes swept the hall.

"Thank you," he said and took his seat.

There was scattered applause after Dumbledore's speech and very sober atmosphere lingered after it but it soon changed to joyous and cheery when the food began to appear in front of them.

As usual the elves had made a feast worthy of a king and everyone dug in with relish.

Once they were all full and the food had gone Dumbledore stood up once more.

"Once again welcome back! Sleep well and control your bladders!"

If the feast hadn't lightened the atmosphere then _that_ certainly did.

"I bet that was directed at you Blaise," sniggered Harry.

"You're the water boy not me smartass," shot back Blaise.

"Point taken," replied Harry grinning following the rest of the Slytherin's back to their common room.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Slowly the months began to creep by. At the beginning Harry thought that time at Hogwarts would snail past this term but it was quite the opposite. Between the frustrating occlumency sessions, massive amounts of homework and intense Quidditch practice sessions the days simply whizzed past.

The families living at Hogwarts were almost nonexistent to the students in the castle. They just showed up only during eating hours and later in the evening they would come out for a stroll by the lake.

The deatheaters were still quiet apart from the occasional muggle baiting which the ministry had kept firmly under control.

One would think that the people would take this as a good sign and get about their businesses again but all it had done was increase their fear. The silence from Voldemort had put everyone on the edge and they knew that any time this little break they were experiencing would blow right in their faces.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The month of February had set in and there was an air of excitement in the castle. The first reason being Valentine 's Day was around the corner and the second because the Quidditch final was getting closer too, being scheduled on the 26th of the month between Slytherin and Gryffindor.

A very tired and dirty Harry was returning from the Quidditch ground after a particularly exhausting practice session when he ran into Daphne.

"Oh, hi Harry," she said with a smile.

"Your shirt seems really untidy," commented Harry with a grin.

"Oh that," she replied blushing. "I was with Adrian."

"As in the Rawenclaw fifth year?"

Daphne nodded while smoothening out her shirt. "So got any date for the 14th?" she asked him.

"Nope."

"Susan really likes you, you know," she said slyly.

"Does she now," asked Harry smirking.

"You want to ask her out?"

"If she's that interested then ask her to ask me herself," he said shrugging. "Now I'm really tired and would love to take a shower."

That said he turned around and started walking back to his dorm.

"Wait!" said Daphne and quickly caught up with him. "Don't you want a date for Valentines Day!"

"Daphne, I could care less about Valentines Day."

Daphne huffed. "I thought you would jump at an opportunity to go out with her. She is hot you know!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine, tell her to meet me in the great hall at 9. We leave for Hogsmeade at 9.30 alright?" Frankly he didn't care at the moment and if a girl really wanted to go on a date with him he would just play along. . . . . And enjoy the date too!

"Okie Dokie," said Daphne happily.

"You know, I figured you'd still be mad at me for dumping you," he said.

"Let bygones be bygones," she said, "Besides, it's not like we were in an actual relationship."

Harry grimaced. "Salazar," he said opening up the entrance to their common room.

"Harry! There you are!"

"Ginny, what is it?"

"Nothing," replied the redhead. "It's just been a while since we last spoke that's all."

Harry sighed. "I'd love to catch up and all but as you can see," he said gesturing at his clothes. "I'm very dirty."

"I do have eyes you know," she said rolling her eyes. "How about we talk later," she said while shifting her eyes towards Daphne and back to Harry quick as lightening.

"Sure," replied Harry narrowing his eyes. "I'll catch you later alright Daphne?"

"Bye Potter," said the dark haired Slytherin before heading over to the group of forth years by the fireplace.

"What's this about?" Harry asked Ginny as he was walked towards his dorm.

"Something I overheard, something important," she whispered. "I'll see you outside the common room at 10.00."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Far from the Dungeons, in the Gryffindor tower things were quite cheery.

Practically the entire house was being setup for blind dates for Valentines Day. At one side of the common room were the girls, third year and above of course. And on the other side were the boys, third year and above again.

"Alrightyho people!" said Fred happily. We are ten dates down and many more to go. George please pick a name from the boys bowl!"

Behind him Colin Creevy was providing a drum roll.

"And Lee Jordan is the man!"

"And now for the lucky girl Fred."

"Well, well, well!" said Fred. "It's the lioness of house Lillian Mary Austin!"

"And now to seal the deal shall the man be allowed to kiss the woman," said George bowing towards Lillian.

Lillian grinned, "He is allowed," she said dramatically.

Jordan pecked her lightly on the lips to loud cheer from the common room.

"And the next girl to be picked isssssss... Patricia Stimpson!"

"Her date will be _Percy Weasley_ ," said George softly and the common room went 'ooooohhhhh'.

"Now will Prefect Weasley be allowed to kiss Prefect Stimpson?"

Stimpson blushed before agreeing much to Percy's delight.

"You shouldn't have turned down McLaggen Hermione," said Lillian laughing.

"Have you seen him!" she whispered back. "And plus I don't think this is right age for dating and all. We should be concentrating on our studies!"

"Bollocks Hermione," said Ron. "You're just scared that's all!"

"I am not!" she said in indignation.

"Are too."

"Am not and you're no one to talk Ronald. You kissed Lavender on her cheek when she puckered her lips at you!"

Ron blushed. "I didn't think it was appropriate that's all! Mary however didn't find it awkward at all!"

Hermione shifted her gaze back to Lillian. "Is there something you're not telling us Mary?"

"It was a peck on the lip! What's there to be awkward about!" she said defending herself.

"Does that mean that was your first kiss?" asked Ron curiously.

"Maybe," she said slyly. "Ask me no questions and I tell you no lies!"

"Lillian Mary Austin!" huffed Hermione.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

10.00pm, outside the common room of the Slytherin house.

"Ginny?" called out Harry.

"Over here."

Harry looked around and spotted her near a hole in the wall.

"A secret room?" he asked.

"I found it by accident and it's just a small room. Probably a secret broom cupboard," she said grinning.

"So what's this all about?"

At once her face went tense.

"I overheard Pucey and Flint talking," she whispered. "Talking about the You Know Who and... and you."

"Me?" asked Harry, his interest now peaked.

"They said that it's been months and the dark lord should be waking soon."

"Waking?"

"Yes," she said, her voice now turning fearful. "And they were talking about how to win his favour once he awakes."

Ginny looked down and began to wring her fingers.

"Ginny," said Harry softly. "What did they say about me?"

"I don't know if they were serious our not but they said they could gift the boy who lived to the dark lord," she said with tears in her eyes. "And then laughing, Flint says but not before the Quidditch final."

"Did they say anything else?"

She nodded.

"P-pucey said that gifting you to him as soon as he wakes will guarantee them a place in the inner circle."

Tears were slowly making their way down the redhead's cheek as she spoke.

Harry felt a little annoyed at the tears falling but he gently wiped away her tears and looked into her eyes. "Have you told anyone else about this Ginny?"

"I told the headmaster immediately," she said. "And he said that he'd take care of it and not to worry."

"Great!" thought Harry exasperatedly "Just what I need! More eyes being kept on me".

"Do you think he'd approve of you telling me this?" he asked her curiously.

"He said that it was up to me to decide," she said sniffing.

They fell silent as Harry's mind began to work. Sirius was right, he thought. There was going to be an attempt to capture him. The question was, should he take care of it now or wait for them to try!

"Thanks for telling me this Ginny," he said with a smile. "But you shouldn't worry. Trust professor Dumbledore."

Ginny nodded. "Please be careful Harry," she said. She then hugged him and left.

Harry just stood there looking bemused before shaking his head and leaving himself. He didn't head back to the common room but decided to go and meet Dumbledore. After hearing what Ginny had to say, his drive to master occlumency had increased even more.

Even if by any chance he was to be captured he would make his captors feel unimaginable pain before putting them out of their misery.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 ** _Flashback_**

"Ready Harry?"

"Why don't you stop talking and start throwing bitch," said a blindfolded Harry with a smirk.

"You're going to pay for calling me that boy," growled Perenelle Flamel as she conjured what seemed to be a hundred sharp spears all around Harry.

Harry smiled. "Spears Penny? You trying to kill me or something?"

"Your sensing has improved if you know they're spears."

Harry grinned in anticipation and readied himself. Once he had felt his magic spreading out from his body, it had suddenly become easier to manipulate it. Before he could move objects by looking at them, but now he had the ability to spread his magic with his eyes closed and literally touch things with it.

"Here they come!" shouted Penny and hurled the spears at Harry.

When the spears were about 10 feet away from Harry, they seemed to run into an invisible barrier and clattered to the ground. A few seconds latter Harry fell to his knees panting.

"That was harder than I thought it would be!"

"But it was much better and much stronger than I expected," said Penny in approval. "I can't believe it's taken you just three days to come this far!"

"Thanks, so are we done for today?"

"Not quite," she said, her tone turning grim. "You'll be leaving in two days and I have one final lesson to teach you."

"What's that?"

"Wait here," she said before disapparating.

She returned a few minutes later and was not alone. She was companied by two men, both who were in handcuffs and in prison clothes.

"What's this about?" asked Harry confused.

"Today Harry, you are going to learn how and what it feels like to kill."

 ** _End flashback_**

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

26th February, after the Quidditch final

The atmosphere in the Slytherin common room was subdued. The Quidditch final was over and the match had ended in a draw resulting in a Gryffindor victory. The Slytherin's needed at least a margin of 30 points to win the cup because they had been hammered by Rawenclaw barely managed to conjure a victory against Hufflepuff when Harry had disappeared while Gryffindor in turn had hammered Rawenclaw and Hufflepuff.

If it weren't for Harry the final score line would have read 300 to nothing but that's to the young seeker it read 150 points each.

Some blamed Harry for not catching the snitch sooner and some were grateful that he saved the house of the serpent the blushes.

The entire house was in mourning except for Harry who was being congratulated and comforted by Susan in an empty class room somewhere on the first floor!

Suddenly, deep within the contents of Harry's trunk, the device which Nicolas Flamel had given him was acting strangely. Instead of the reading increasing it was suddenly decreasing drastically and came to halt at zero percent.

At the same time, miles away in Malfoy manor, in a secluded room Lord Voldemort opened his eyes. His were no longer black, nor were they red but instead they were blue, they were back to their original colour.

He sat still for a minute letting his mind adjust to being back to the real world. He then slowly withdrew his wand and made sure his body was functioning normally after being in a coma like state for so long.

Once he was satisfied he pushed himself up and conjured a mirror to see what he looked like.

He was a little surprised at what he saw but not disappointed. He was still bald but he had lost his reptilian features and had regained some of his Tom Riddle features. Now if someone who had known him in the past saw him, they would be able to make the connection if they looked hard enough. The madness that was there in him was gone and to Voldemort, it felt like he was looking and thinking clearly after a very, very long time.

Remembering he was in Malfoy manor he headed to the living room and found it empty.

Smirking he lazily flicked his wand summoning Lucius to him. Upstairs Lucius Malfoy was fast asleep and received the shock of his life when he suddenly felt something yanking on his feet and talking him flying downstairs.

"What in the name of Morgana!" he shouted as he was dragged on the ground of his living room before coming to a stop. He hauling himself up and drew his wand from his night robes.

"You dare to draw your wand against your master Lucius?" drawled the cold and strong voice of lord Voldemort.

Shocked Lucius looked into the face of his before quickly tucking his wand in his robes and dropping to his knees.

"My Lord," he whispered in shock and kissed the hem of the dark lord's robes.

"Show me your left arm Lucius," said Voldemort lazily. "It's time for our army to regroup and turn our dreams into reality."

"Something has changed in the dark lord... again," thought Lucius with a shudder as he rolled back his sleeve. He winced as he felt his mark flare with heat and pain.

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The house was soon filled with the sounds of apparation and each and every inner circle death eater quickly got into their positions.

"My loyal followers," began Voldemort in his smooth voice once his men had taken their positions. "The past few months have been long and dark. For me and for you."

He paused and surveyed his men.

"Dark for me because I was fighting with something inside me and dark for you because you had no one to guide you. But fear no more," he said, his voice dropping an octave.

He lips curled as he passed by Nott and Goyle.

"I sense that some of you are disappointed at my revival and wish that I had not awoken. It seems to me that you have forgotten our purpose, the reason we started this war. The reason we spill blood!"

Many in the group shifted uncomfortably while some stood straighter looking proud.

"Care to enlighten us Lucius?"

"We fight so that we do not have to live in hiding anymore my lord. We fight because we should not be afraid of our powers being discovered. We fight so that we take our rightful place at the top of the world!"

"I could not have put it better myself," said Voldemort. "Remember my men! There is no good or evil. There is only power. We are going to win! We are going to win this war of freedom and regain our rightful place in this world!" he said passionately.

All the deatheaters roared, the fire in their hearts ignited by their lord!

Voldemort smiled and raised his hands. "Tomorrow we shall let the magical world know of my return and my intentions! Tomorrow, is the dawn of a new era!"

The wizarding world was in for a rude awakening.


	42. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39 – Revolution?**

The great hall was abuzz with excitement.

Everybody was trying to get their hands on the few copies of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered as everyone wanted to know what the big news was. And those who had seen it had expressions of shock and a select few looked ecstatic.

By the time Lillian and Hermione walked into the great hall the noise being generated was deafening. Everyone seemed to have something to say and heated arguments were breaking out between a few students.

"What is going on here!" said Lillian looking at Hermione with an expression of awe and confusion.

It was chaos, no one was bothering to listen to the other and no one wanted to back down either. It didn't help that some students were instigating others into fighting and it wasn't surprising that most of them seemed to sport silver and green robes.

"Oh no," groaned Hermione suddenly, nudging Lillian.

Ronald Weasley and a group of Gryffindor's had ended up at the Slytherin table and both the girls knew that things were going to get out of hand when the back of Ron's ears started to turn red.

And then things did get out of hand when the pancake in Ron's hand flew _out_ of his hand and onto the face of the smirking Draco Malfoy.

"Attack!" screamed someone from the Slytherin table and all of a sudden curses and hexes were flying all around the room. The Gryffindor's were aiming for the Slytherin's naturally. The Slytherin's in turn were strategically aiming at students around the room while the Ravenclaw's were flinging hexes around in panic. The Hufflepuff's seemed to have taken cover under their table and wait for the fighting to abate.

Lillian, who had no idea what was going on had simply chosen to hex anyone she could see clearly and was smiling broadly.

"Mary GET DOWN!" screamed Hermione who had taken refuge under the table herself.

"Don't be a wimp Hermione!" Lillian shouted back. "Join in!"

"IMMOBULUS MAXIMUS," bellowed the ancient voice of Albus Dumbledore just seconds later.

Professor Snape who was alongside him quickly dispelled the remaining spells which were flying about in an impressive manner and with another grand wave of his wand; he lifted the various hexes some of the students had been hit with.

He had to spare a minute for the Gryffindor's who had been near the Slytherin table for they hexes that had hit them took a little time to get rid of.

It was quite a comical scene when one looked at it humorously but sadly there was no humour in the situation.

Harry, Blaise and a few other students from other houses entered the great hall to this scenario.

"I think it's a good thing you overslept Harry," whispered Blaise. Even though he spoke in a low voice, his voice carried across the great hall with ease and Dumbledore gave him a sharp critical look.

"This is shameful," were the first words that came out of the headmaster's mouth. "I am going to lift the spell now and I want all of you to sit down _without_ any trouble."

Harry and Blaise quietly made their way to the Slytherin table. On the way Harry saw Lillian frozen with her eyes facing him and he gave a smirk. Harry knew she could see him and do nothing.

"Finite," said Dumbledore calmly and movement was restored in the hall again.

Chairs scratched against the floors as the Hogwarts population took their seats and not vocal cord moved as they settled down.

By then the remaining students and teachers had entered the hall too and sensing the sober atmosphere, they quietly took their seats.

Once Dumbledore was sure the entire student population was in the hall he flicked his wand again summoning all copies of the daily prophet to him.

"I suppose this the cause of this ruckus," said the headmaster grimly looking at the headlines.

 **LORD VOLDEMORT: REVOLUTIONARY?**

That was what the headline read.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **10 hours earlier.**

"Skeeter! How are you coming along with the story on Bagman?" shouted the editor of the Daily Prophet.

"Beautifully sir," replied Rita Skeeter with a nasty smile.

"And what about you White?"

"Fudge's wife is going to have a fit after reading about her husband's latest affair."

"And do we have ANYTHING that will make people's bones shiver to put up as our headlines!" he asked the room full of his top reporters.

"I've heard rumours about Dumbledore readying an army to take over the ministry Mr. Watts," said another young, short reporter with a squeaky voice.

Watts, the editor of the Prophet sighed. "Anything else?"

"Minister Bones seems to be investing more Galleons in the department of mysteries," said the cool voice of Mr. Brooke, one of the best reporters in the Prophet.

"Anything solid evidence?"

"Nothing concrete yet," said Brooke.

"Come on people! Just because the dark lord has been out of the news and the ministry seems to be performing efficiently means we can't find any other hot topic!"

"O-one of m-m-my sources was talking a-about an at-t-empt on Scrimgeour's life M-mr. Watts."

Just as those words left the short and squeaky reporters' mouth, the door to the office was blown open and three men with silver masks covering their faces walked in.

"Stay in your places and don't move," came a smooth and silky voice from the man in the centre.

The three moved to a separate side of the room with their wands hanging loosely from their hands and at that moment in walked the most wanted man in the wizarding world, Lord Voldemort.

The atmosphere in the office suddenly became heavy and the terror and fear was easily visible on every face in that room.

"Do not fear me," whispered Lord Voldemort calmly. "I am here for an interview," he said, stunning the crowd of reporters.

"I-I-interview?" stammered the editor, his voice ripe with dread and panic.

"That is correct. You may ask me questions and I shall answer them," replied Voldemort.

He then drew his wand and instantly everyone dived to the ground. But Voldemort simply conjured a silver chair embedded with emeralds and sat down with a smile.

He then flicked his wand and all the reporters were yanked to their feet.

"Take your seats," he whispered. And each one of them sat so fast that it seemed that gravity had tripled and pulled them to their seats.

"Now I am here for an interview and I am sure you have questions. I will wait for ten seconds after which I will leave and you would have lost a great opportunity."

Rita Skeeter was the first gather her wits. "Why do you look so different... err... l-lord," she ended faltering, not knowing what to call Voldemort. "Your facial structure and eyes have changed."

Voldemort smirked. "I am finally myself," he said cryptically. "And you may call me Lord."

Now that Rita had started the rest of the group were recovering from their initial shock and their reporting instincts were kicking in.

"D-do you mean physically or me-mentally?" asked Rogers, the man with the squeaky voice.

Voldemort glared at the little man with anger threatening to spill but controlled himself and the reporters let out a breath they hadn't realized they were holding.

"Mentally," replied Voldemort coldly. "When I was reborn my mind was... it was cloudy and I wasn't thinking clearly before I acted. All I wanted was blood."

An audible gulp was heard but now that Voldemort hadn't killed them they were beginning to gather their wits and courage.

"Is that why you haven't conducted any attacks? Because you were trying to regain your lost sanity?" asked Brooke tentatively.

"Yes," replied Voldemort shortly. He was here for one purpose and one purpose only; Recruitment.

He was here to inspire wizards and witches to join him and what better place to spread an invitation than the press.

"So what is it you want my lord?" asked Rita Skeeter. "Is your goal to take over the wizarding world?"

'Finally,' thought Voldemort. The question he was waiting for. "In the past, before Harry Potter managed to hurt me, yes," he said playing down his defeat to Harry Potter. "But now that I have regained my sanity as one of you put it. My goal is to save our world."

A few looked confused.

"What do we need saving from?" asked Hodge, the Quidditch reporter.

"From extinction," he whispered. "We are humans who have been gifted with power and yet we live in hiding, yet we fear those who do not have such a power, yet we cannot live freely. We have to live in specific places and we always have to be careful where we do what is natural to us, magic."

"Even in the past, muggles have feared us and killed us because of what we are, remember the witch hunts? We wizards and witches have _suffered_ at the hands of these animals and because of our soft nature we have let them be and gone into hiding ourselves without putting up a fight."

Voldemort could see he had had won over a few in the room already. And once they printed his words he knew there would be hundreds more who would look past his image as a murderer and look towards him as a leader towards change.

"I am here to lead a moment to take our rightful place in this world."

There was silence for a while as the people in the room swallowed what Voldemort had just said.

"Why should anyone believe what you say My Lord," asked Brooke. "No disrespect," he added. "You have killed so many good people in the past. Are you going to own up to your crimes?"

"No I am not," replied Voldemort sharply. "The past is the past Mr Brooke. I have made mistakes in my approach before but I do not regret it. That is why I wish for us to look to a greater future."

"So do you still support pureblood domination?"

"I now support the domination of magic," retorted Voldemort coolly.

"And how do plan to do this?" asked Watts.

"I want and need the support of the ministry of magic and every magical person all over the world as we attempt to bring down the walls we hide behind."

"And if they don't? asked Skeeter.

"I expect them not to stand in my way or else good people will be hurt when they need not," he said cruelly.

"How do you plan to expose our world? The muggles out number us greatly and they have dangerous weapons too. If we reveal ourselves then we could really face our end!"

"That is why we need the help and support of our kind," he said with a smile. "I would not have come here if I thought this was impossible."

"Are you going to use violent methods?" asked Watts.

"Do you believe we can change the world peacefully? But to prove that I have changed for the better and wish only for the betterment of our race, I have taken a pledge to give up using dark magic," said Voldemort dropping a massive bombshell.

The silence that engulfed the room after that was eerie. Was what they just heard correct! They all were wondering; his deatheaters included.

"I have realised that there is some magic that should not be approached. I have changed for the better and my resolve to change our world has never been stronger."

"Y-you have s-stopped using dark ma-ma-gic?" asked Rogers in disbelief. How could a dark lord say that he would not use dark magic anymore! Was he not a dark lord anymore then!

"It was what was clouding my judgement but no more. Now my purpose and _belief's_ have never been clearer," said Voldemort passionately.

He then stood up.

"If there are any wizards and witches who want what _I_ want, then all they have to do is come 10 miles east of Hogsmeade three days from now," he said softly and then he was simply gone.

"Everything should be printed in tomorrow's edition or else you our lord would be most displeased," said one of the deatheaters before they disapparated.

It was only after Voldemort left that the reporters wondered why they were so subdued. Why did they not ask more questions, why did they not grill him further! The answer was simple, they feared for their lives.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **The Great Hall**

"Do not believe him," said Dumbledore fiercely. "All he wants is power and now his ambitions have gone beyond our world! His past has proven what he is capable of and this changes nothing! When he first came to power he dreamed of controlling the wizarding world so be began to preach about pureblood domination and now he dreams of controlling the world so he has changed his agenda to the survival of our kind! The muggle world and our world are too different and to reveal ourselves will result in a clash of ideals and a way of living which will inevitably result in war which is exactly what Voldemort wants!"

"A war which will cost both sides great damage," he said, his old voice reverberating throughout the hall. A voice filled with reason and wisdom.

"Remember, he needs followers so that he can manipulate them to his own purpose and then he will kill you. What we need to do is to stand up and refuse to give this man what he wants so that we can live in peace."

"Do not be influenced by his words and I hope when the time comes all of you will make the right decision," he said, ending softly.

He waited for a few moments as his words sank into the heads of all around him. "And on another note I will not tolerate violence between any students and any such act will attract a severe punishment. Have a nice day," he said and took his seat.

All of a sudden the entire dynamics of this war against Lord Voldemort had changed. It was no longer one against pureblood domination or at least it seemed to be that way, but now had become a war of freedom! With just a few words from the self styled lord, people were forgetting his past horrific crimes and were beginning to have trust in him. But this was true only for the youth who had not experienced the first war.

People who had experienced the past war and had witnessed his cruelty first hand knew, they knew what kind of a monster this man was and their determination to stop him had risen to another level.

Suddenly nobody knew what the future could hold, not even Dumbledore.

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After Dumbledore had sat the noise levels in the great hall gradually began to rise again and some of the senior students who had early classes began to filter out of the hall and most of them had troubled looks on their faces. Most were wondering if Voldemort was right for once or was the righteous leader of good who could do no wrong right again.

"This is unreal," said Tracey who had finally acquired a newspaper.

"Oh it's real alright," replied Harry with a snort. "Voldemort has officially lost his mind and decided to become a crusader of sorts instead of keeping it simple and keeping his title of being a dark lord!"

That remark brought a few laughs and lots of dirty looks from the Slytherin table.

"The one's giving me the death stares won't be here three days from now," Harry whispered to Blaise.

"Think Malfoy will be going?" asked Blaise.

"Well he just smiled so I guess he's undecided," replied Harry. "And I doubt Dumbledore will allow anyone to sneak out of the castle so easily. The ones who are of age might be able to leave but the rest will not be given permission to leave the castle."

"Are _you_ going to go Harry?" asked Nott and Harry just stared at him like he had just been stabbed through the heart!

"What!" said Nott defensively, "If it was someone other than the dark lord would you have considered it?"

Harry wanted to outright say that he would never consider it but the thought of doing magic anywhere at anytime without the fear of reprisals _was_ attractive.

As soon as that thought went through him he wacked his head. "Voldemort knows how to sway the minds of people and instil doubt in our hearts," said Harry letting taking a deep breath. "And if it were someone else, I might have given it some thought but Dumbledore is right, such a dream would only result in death and destruction on both sides."

Tracey sighed, "But it's not going to stop some in our house from leaving and by the looks of it some in the other three houses look intrigued too."

Daphne raised her eyebrow, "The Gryffindorks too?" she asked in surprise.

"One or two by the looks of things," said Blaise looking closely at the lions table.

"Anyway I think we should head to class," said Nott, "Professor Snape won't spare us too if we were more than five minutes late!"

"Just what I needed first thing in the morning," grumbled Daphne. "Potions with Gryffindorks."

Groaning the Slytherin third years slowly and unwillingly made their way to the dark, cold and gloomy dungeons which the rest of the school thought they loved.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The potions class was done with without any accidents except for one incident where Daphne had tried to dump Grangers head into her shrinking potion and Harry had stopped her just in time even though he was tempted to let her do it. The Hermione's constant need to answer every question with a prefect textbook answer got on everybody's nerves.

"Her arms must get quite the work out," thought Harry, imagining the number of times they went up and down.

"Hey Harry," called out a voice Harry knew all too well.

"What is it?" he asked Lillian.

"Nothing, just haven't spoken to you in a while so I thought I'd just catch up," she said smiling.

"Oh, well what's up with you then?" said Harry.

Lillian shrugged, "Nothing much, just been busy with school work and practice."

"Practice?" he asked frowning. "What practice? You're not on the Quidditch team are you?"

"No that idiot, practice as in improving my magic practice," she replied rolling her eyes. "And after today's developments I think it's a really good idea if I step it up a notch."

Harry raised his eyebrow, "You think you're going to be fighting soon?"

"I have a feeling that something terrible is going to happen soon," she said in a matter of fact tone. "And hell, have you forgotten what we are and what the Flamel's had told us?"

Harry stopped walking. "I haven't forgotten," he replied quietly, "And I've been doing the same. But somehow I can't imagine things going as bad as people say they will and for all the training that I have done, I can't imagine actually fighting like that."

"Me too," whispered Lillian, "Ever since we've got back all I've been doing is imagining what it would be like if war does break out."

Harry sighed, "Do you think anyone is going to leave from your house?"

"A few," admitted Lillian. "What about yours?"

Harry snorted, "Definitely more than a few. I think we're going to loose about half the house!"

The pair resumed walking in silence with no particular destination in mind.

"Harry," said Lillian suddenly. "After today's news Hermione had this idea of starting a self defence club."

Harry laughed. "Really! And who's going to teach them!"

Lillian went a little red, "Well they want me to do it, but I was wondering if you'd want to join and you know... help me?" she said with her voice becoming smaller and smaller.

Harry looked at her in shock! "Are you seriously asking me to help you teach magic to bunch of Gryffindor pricks who'd want nothing more than to see my head fall from my body!"

"Yes?" replied Lillian.

Harry blinked twice and then laughed out loud. "Well the answer is no. I have too much to do and I certainly don't want to interact with your loser friends."

Lillian's temper rose sharply. "They are not losers," she said angrily. "They have their hearts in the right places and that's more than I can say for the people you hang out with."

"My friends are better than yours thank you very much," shot back Harry. "They have their hearts in the correct place too and they have much better brains and know how to talk to people without having to try and shove their wands up others noses!"

"My friends," growled Lillian, "Are worth ten times more than yours. Other people like them and talk to them whereas yours simply alienate themselves from the rest of the school!"

"Which is because of your dumbass friends who love to spread rumours about other people and drag their names through dirt," said Harry, his voice and temper rising too.

"They are a little immature sure, but they're better than yours!"

"Well mine aren't immature like yours and that proves that they're better," retorted Harry.

When the two would reflect on this argument they would realize how childish their argument was!

"Whatever," snapped Lillian. "We'll find out soon enough who's friends are better! I'm leaving and maybe you should go find Susan and stick your tongue down her throat instead of sprouting crap!" she yelled and walked away briskly.

"I'll be sure to do that," Harry yelled back. "She's a fantastic kisser!" By then Lillian had already disappeared and Harry was left wondering why he had even said that!

"Stupid idiot," grumbled Harry and headed towards his common room in anger.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Three days later** Hogwarts seemed to have lost a quarter of its seventh years and from the news that they were getting, it seemed that more than half of the wizarding population had made their way to Hogsmeade.

It was a massive victory for Voldemort and everybody knew that. The question that remained on everybody's mind was what was going to happen next.

The ministry aurors had tried to locate the area where Voldemort had asked the witches and wizards to come to but had no luck whatsoever. No matter what they tried they did not succeed and had to give up in the end. It seemed Voldemort had put up some really powerful and clever wards up in that area to keep those not wanted out.

The days that followed were filled with tension. Everyday there seemed to be a new speech by Voldemort in the papers and true to his word there had been no magic related deaths in both worlds yet. Occasionally a group of Voldemorts latest followers would hold a demonstration in public areas. Some were about the lack of freedom magical beings had as compared to muggles. Some were all about recruitment and most were about Voldemort taking the seat of minister of magic.

At Hogwarts things went about as normal except for Quidditch being cancelled due to students in the team leaving the school. Lillian and Hermione had successfully started up a defence club and many students from all houses had joined in, a few even from the Slytherin house. In each meeting they learnt something new and usually had a senior student teach them and guide them.

Harry on the other hand had devoted his time to mastering occlumency. He thought he had made some progress and even Dumbledore thought so too but it was still not enough. The year was close to its end and more than six months had passed since Harry first started to try and master the art. He now realized why occlumency was a lost art. It simply took too much time to learn and there was no guide to learning it too.

They ministry on the other hand had come down hard on these self styled revolutionaries and had banned any such demonstrations but it was near impossible to stop them when their resources were running so low. This new approach by Voldemort seemed to be having massive dividends and they knew it wouldn't be long before Voldemort had enough strength and support to take over the ministry and launch his war against the muggles.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Malfoy Manor**

Lord Voldemort was surrounded by five of his most loyal followers. Lucius, Yaxley, Nott and Bellatrix and Barty Crouch Jr. Snape too would have been in on this secret plan but his position as spy made Voldemort reconsider.

"Are the men in position?" asked Voldemort quietly. The last few months had been incredibly taxing but he knew it was worth it.

"Yes my lord," said Nott.

"Did the wizards we exposed to radiation have any harmful reactions?" he asked Bellatrix.

"No my lord, we are immune to their harmful effects unlike the muggles."

"Excellent," hissed the newly christened leader of the magical revolution, his eyes gleaming. "And I trust you were successful in locating and taking control of all the nuclear facilities around the globe Barty?"

"It was difficult," answered Crouch, with an air of self importance. "It seems most of these facilities had very good magical protection as well. But thanks to our new found followers and some well placed impervious curses those weapons are in our hands now. We really must thank Severus for all the polyjuice that he supplied."

"And how were your talks with the magical creatures of our world," Voldemort asked Lucius and Yaxley.

"They will not stand in our way as promised but if we succeed in our plan then they have promised to make an alliance with us," said Lucius.

"Except for the giants my lord," added Yaxley. "They just do not care anymore. Their numbers have dwindled to less than a hundred and they do not wish to loose more of their kind now."

"Good enough," muttered Voldemort rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"But my lord," said Lucius hesitantly. This was a point that had been brought up numerous times in the last few months. "Are we really going to do this? Is this really necessary?"

After Voldemort had come out of his meditation and stopped using dark magic his followers had found a new faith in their leader and didn't have to fear for their lives when they had doubts in his plans.

They had spent a lot of time gathering knowledge about muggles and their way of life and how their governments functioned and what would be the best way to take them out.

"We will give then a chance but if the muggles resist our first charge and refuse our existence then we will destroy them with their own weapons," said Voldemort calmly. "But once they are gone we will have the entire world to ourselves. Just for us to rebuild in the manner we want to. Doesn't that sound beautiful?"

All five murmured their agreement. They did not feel guilty about the millions of lives they were going to destroy because of their vision. They did not want to co-exist, they wanted it all.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

It was the end of the year feast and the great hall was decorated in the colours of the house of the Ravens. Since Quidditch had been cancelled it gave both the Hufflepuff's and the Ravenclaw's a great opportunity to take the house cup since the other two usually relied on their Quidditch to win points.

"The end of another year," said Dumbledore his eyes warmly watching all his students. "A year filled with highs and lows. A year we must remember."

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"The coming days are going to be hard but remember, remember that we must have faith in each other and remember that Hogwarts is always open to those who are in need of assistance."

He smiled and then took his seat signalling the start of the feast.

"Enjoy your lives to the fullest!" he shouted as mouth watering delicious food magically appeared before them all.

"What do you plan to do now Blaise?" Harry asked his best friend.

"We're moving to Italy," he replied uncomfortably. "But I think this time our family will have no choice but to take a side."

"And which side do you think that is?" asked Harry quietly.

"Hopefully the right one," muttered Blaise. He then turned towards Harry with his eyes blazing with emotion. "And if not will I have the chance to take shelter at your home?"

Harry placed his hands on Baise's shoulder, "My house is always open to you and anyone you wish to bring along," he whispered.

For the first time in the history of Hogwarts, a feast had taken place with barely any sound being made. If only they knew what plans Voldemort had in mind.


	43. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40 – It Begins.**

Breath in. . . . breath out. . . breath in. . . . breath out. Harry repeated this thought like a mantra in his mind as he eased into a meditative trance.

He was back at Grimmauld place and was back to his hundredth attempt to learn and master occlumency.

He was practicing the age old method of imagining a blank white wall in front of him but it wasn't working out very well. Every time he thought he was close a multitude of colours would ghost into his vision and ruin his white wall! And now after what he thought was 10 minutes there was a multicoloured wall in front of him . . . again.

But that did not deter the young elemental. He decided to focus on one of the million colours and force the others out of his mind while trying to keep his thoughts at bay. He didn't know how long he stayed focused on a single colour but he knew that it wasn't enough. Earlier he had asked professor Snape for some tips and to Harry's shock the Slytherin head instead of snubbing him, had simply said that to achieve a state of thoughtlessness you needed to sink so deep into your subconscious so that you reach a place where your conscious mind cannot reach. It was terribly confusing, wasn't the subconscious where all the random thoughts came from?

BANG BANG BANG!

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden intrusion of noise. With rage rumbling behind his eyes he yanked the door open ready to blast whoever it was outside to hyperspace.

It was Ginny.

"What the hell do you want!" he spat out furiously, his eyes smouldering with anger. He felt he had been so close to a revelation and to be disturbed at that point was infuriating.

Looking at the angry Potter, Ginny slowly backed away from him. "Mum's calling us all for dinner," she said warily. "Fred and George came up here about an hour ago but you didn't open up so mum sent me to try again."

Harry's anger slowly ebbed away. He hadn't heard the devil twins at all. "What time is it now?" he demanded.

"It's eight," she replied. "Everyone's downstairs and you're the only one left."

"Eight!" thought Harry in shock. He had begun at six and he thought it had been just about twenty minutes since he had begun while in reality it had been two hours! "This is interesting," he muttered. "How deep in was I? And how much further do I need to go?"

"Harry? Are you coming?" asked Ginny again, looking at Harry curiously. He was acting very strange she thought.

"Huh, yeah, let's go Ginny," he said mustering a smile at the young redhead.

Arriving at the dining table Harry found that nearly everyone was there, Order members and his Gryffindor acquaintances combined. "What joy," Harry grumbled in his mind.

"Mrs Weasley is really pissed off at you Harry," said Lillian.

Harry rolled his eyes and took his place next to Sirius. "What were you doing pup?" he asked.

"Must have been up to some no good as usual," said Remus lightly. Harry didn't miss the playfulness in his voice.

"Yes Remus," said Harry with a sigh, "I was busy studying the darkest of the dark arts in the darkest corner of my room."

Ron gasped! "I knew it!" he shouted.

Hermione, who was sitting next to the redhead whacked the back of his head and said, "Idiot! He's being sarcastic!"

The entire table chuckled at Ron's dimwittedness.

"Why are gathered here like a bunch of hillbillies anyway?" Harry asked Sirius loudly.

"It's Arthur's birthday," Sirius whispered to him and he smiled at the people now glaring at his godson. "Didn't you know?"

Further conversation ceased as Mrs. Weasley entered with a huge chocolate cake with a blue and white Ford Angela perched on top.

Sighs of desire seemed to flow from the table at the sight of that cake. It simply reeked of deliciousness!

"Happy Birthday Arthur," said Molly warmly, looking at her husband lovingly.

Percy put a party hat on his father's head as everybody stood up and started singing for Mr. Weasley. Sirius had to drag Harry up along with everyone else _and_ had to pinch him to force him to sing along which Harry did so _very_ reluctantly. It was only the sight and smell of the cake which compelled the young Potter to sing the happy birthday song. Thankfully for him, no one heard the swear words he kept adding now and then.

Half an hour later Harry was sinking deep in his favourite chair and he was surrounded by half the occupants of the Grimmauld place who were in various positions just trying to keep that wonderful cake from coming back up their food pipes. Only Ron was still at the dining table polishing off whatever scraps of cake he could still find while Ginny stood there eagerly watching Ron stuff himself. She had checked his weight before the meal and wanted to check it after!

"Oh god I am so full!" gasped Lillian who sitting on the floor with her back against the sofa and her legs spread.

"Tell me about it," said Hermione. "My parents are going to have a fit if they find out how much sugar I've consumed today!"

"I'll be sure to let them know then," muttered Harry.

Hermione looked horrified at the thought.

"Oh stuff it Harry," said Lillian with a yawn.

"Oh I'm quite stuffed if you must know _freckles_ ," sneered Harry.

Lillian's eye twitched at the name and she started a conversation with Hermione ignoring Harry. After a good fifteen minutes of letting their stomachs settle, Mrs. Weasley came bumbling into the room and started shooing all her kids out and to bed.

Harry snorted. "Looks the kids are past their sleeping time."

Mrs Weasley heard that and turned sharply towards him. "That includes you too young man," she said.

"Bite me," replied Harry rudely.

The Weasley kids erupted as usual much to Harry's amusement and were ready to curse him into oblivion but their mother forcefully ushered them out of the room after glaring darkly at Harry.

"Always a piece of cake to antagonize them," he said and then laughed at his own joke.

"Would it kill you to be nice to Molly and her kids once it a while," asked a smiling Sirius.

"Yes," replied Harry, deadpanned. "I don't like them and they don't like me."

"They don't like you because you haven't given them a reason too," said his dogfather sternly.

"Neither have they," shot back Harry. "The only one I tolerate is Ginny and that's only because she's in my house! Anyways, I'm off to bed," he said not wanting to pursue the topic.

Sirius shook his head ruefully as his Harry trudged up the stairs and out of sight. "He really needs to lighten up," he muttered.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry could not sleep.

He was going to turn fourteen in an hour and he was bemoaning the fact that there were no major improvements in his quest to learn occlumency. It had been more than six months and Harry still felt he was nowhere to close to even beginning to understand how one shields his mind. He was weighing the pros and cons of forgetting about learning the stupid art of protecting your mind.

It was with thoughts like these running through his mind Harry made his way to the kitchen hoping to find something to eat.

THUD

Harry froze. It sounded like something fell against the front door. He stood still for a few seconds and then heard the sound of the front door being opened slowly.

Harry drew his wand. The house was under the fidelius charm but it didn't hurt to be safe.

Casting a non verbal silencing spell on his feet Harry stealthily made his way to the front door. When he entered the hall way he found the door half open. Frowning, he moved to close the door when suddenly his foot came in contact with something warm and he jumped back in shock.

"Lumos," he said sharply and the light from his wand illuminated the body of a man halfway inside the house.

He rushed over to him and helped the man up.

"Potter?" mumbled Severus Snape.

Harry's eyes slowly widened in horror as the light showed the professor's condition. There was blood dripping all over and his body was trembling as he tried to move.

"Professor what happened?" said Harry, dismayed.

"Dark lord... danger ...," he whispered and Harry was barely able to hear him. "Albus... where...?"

"Stop talking professor," said Harry as he, with great effort dragged said man to the living room. "You're going to be alright," he said confidently even as he felt the man's blood begin to drench his clothes.

Somehow he managed to get the man to the couch and Harry then made a stabbing moment with his wand forward emitting a loud bang from it. Another wave followed by a whispered incantation and the lamps and fireplace in the room flared to life.

Then Harry saw the extent of the professor's injuries and he resisted the urge to look away.

His left forearm was missing. There were multiple deep cuts throughout his torso visible through the shredded robes. His right leg was broken and the bone visible in places. His body was shivering terribly his black eyes found Harry's green ones.

Harry didn't even hear the noise of people rumbling down the stairs.

"Don't ... put me to sleep," muttered Snape through a haze of pain as he began to flicker in and out of consciousness.

"Harry? What's going ... Oh dear merlin!"

Harry felt himself being pushed away by Molly Weasley as she snapped into action putting to use all the medical knowledge she had.

"Remus, floo Hogwarts and get Pomfrey here now!" Sirius barked.

"Harry, are you alright!" Tonks asked Harry taking in his blood soaked appearance.

"Y-yea, I'm fine," Harry stammered.

"Good, then go up to your room and stay there until we call you," she said.

Those words jolted Harry out the daze he realized he was in. "What? No!" he said firmly and pushed the metamorphagus aside. "Mrs Weasley, is it possible to wake the professor up!" he said urgently.

"Absolutely not!" she cried out as she began to conjure bandages to stop the bleeding. The normal spells she knew weren't working.

"Sirius, we must wake him up and get him into a state where he can talk coherently," shouted Harry.

Sirius who was holding down Snape as he began to trash and moan when Molly began to fix his bones yelled out. "I don't think it's quite possible at the moment Harry!"

"Tonks where is Remus?" shouted Molly. There was only so much she could do.

"Listen to me," said Harry moving closer to Sirius while trying to ignore the mutilated body of his head of house _and_ ignoring the furiousand panicking Weasley. "Professor Snape said something about danger, the dark lord and the headmaster. He also ordered me not to let anyone put him to sleep so please find a way to ease his pain and wake him up!" Harry's voice had steadily increased and now all the occupants of Grimmauld place number 12 were downstairs trying to see what was going on and why was there so much noise.

"Move aside, move aside" came the commanding voice of Madam Pomfrey much to Mrs. Weasley's relief. "And I'll take your concerns into consideration too Mr Potter but his life comes first," she added as she began to work on Snape.

"In the meantime I want all of you out!" she said. "Molly, remove the vial labelled cursed wounds and start pouring it one drop at a time on his chest."

"Come on Harry," whispered Remus gently, pulling Harry out of the room. "Let them do their work. Tonks, get all the other kids out of here. Sirius, call an emergency meeting immediately."

Tonks began to usher the Weasley kids and Hermione out of the room and up the stairs ignoring their protests and questions.

Sirius, Remus and Harry headed into the dining hall where Sirius quickly conjured a patronus and sent a message to Kingsley.

Harry leaned against the wall and took a deep shuddering breath. Memories were flashing in his mind, memories of his time with Perenelle.

" _Kill him Harry,"_ he could hear her voice resounding in his head. _"A simple diffindo to his neck!"_

Harry smiled ruefully. He didn't think the sight of such a severely injured person would have shaken him up this much. Not after his time with Perenelle Flamel.

" _People die in battle Harry," said Penny coldly as she watched the elemental empty his stomach after watching her blow a hole through the man's chest. "If you can't stomach the sight of blood and gore and can't kill then how to you expect to fight!"_

"You shouldn't have had to see that Harry," said Remus suddenly looking weary. "How are you doing?" he asked.

Little too late for that, thought Harry. He had seen cold blooded murder and then had been forced to commit murder himself. And it wasn't just once. Penny had made sure he could kill without hesitating. It was her way of making him ready for war.

"I'm fine Professor," said Harry with a smile and took a seat next to Sirius. "What do you think could have happened to professor Snape?" he asked, desperate change the topic from his wellbeing.

"Either he got into a fight or his cover was blown," said Sirius solemnly. "But what's most important is what did he hear or discover that warranted such an attack on him."

"Must be something big for him ask for Albus," said Remus worriedly. "I'm surprised he didn't go to Hogwarts."

"It's a long distance from the gates to the castle," said Harry.

"True," said Sirius. "He would have probably died before he made it to Hagrid's hut."

"How come you didn't send me up along with the rest?" Harry asked Sirius. Every time there's any order business going on or anything to do with Voldemort his godfather had always sent him away albeit reluctantly.

Sirius smiled while Remus looked on curiously. "You are the one who found Snape and probably saved his life by acting quickly instead of freaking out. I always wanted you to be aware of what's going on and now you just gave me a reason to defy Albus and Molly's prattling about how young you are and how you should simply be sheltered from everything."

Harry felt something stir in him as he listened to Sirius. With a start he realized it was affection.

"Plus I think something big is going to happen soon and you all are going to be involved no matter what we do," he added.

The three lapsed into silence after Sirius's surprisingly serious words. Each in buried in their own thoughts until there was a loud crack and Albus Dumbledore made his entrance. His blue eyes were devoid of warmth.

"Where is Severus?" he asked, his soft voice resonating in their ears.

Remus pointed to the living room. Dumbledore nodded his thanks and made his way to the side of the potions master. The remaining three glanced and each other before hurrying after the old headmaster.

Molly was nowhere to be seen and madam Pomfrey was lightly running her wand over the potions master, probably monitoring his condition.

"How is he Poppy?" asked Dumbledore.

"Stable," she replied.

"Can he be woken?"

Pomfrey bit her lip clearly not approving of the idea, but under the stare of Dumbledore she relented and nodded. "But I do not approve," she said anyway. "He shouldn't be straining himself at all, even if it's just to talk."

"Ennervate," whispered Dumbledore. Harry, Sirius and Remus looked on with baited breaths.

Snape's eyes slowly flickered open as he returned to consciousness. His eyes shifted from side to side in confusion before they settled on Dumbledore.

"Albus," he rasped.

"I'm glad to see you well Severus," said Dumbledore smiling.

Snape glared at him. "I shudder to think what the term unwell means to you Dumbledore," he whispered weakly.

Dumbledore looked at him expectantly waiting for the man to explain.

The other three moved in closer while madam Pomfrey left the room. She had no interest in anything apart from fixing people.

Once the mediwitch and closed the door behind her Snape began. He didn't even bother to ask why Harry was still there.

"We only have a few hours before the dark lord initiates his plan so listen to me carefully," said Snape and at once the mood became more serious.

"For months now the dark lord has been working on some plan and only a few in the inner circle have been involved in it. Also the dark lord has been ordering me to make half made potions which he completes by himself to avoid my knowing what they are for."

Pain raced through his body once more and he fought to get it under control. Dumbledore and the others looked on as they waited for Snape to continue.

"For a few weeks now I have been trying to figure out what could the potion be based on the ingredients I used and earlier today after observing the behaviour of the new recruits that the potion the dark lord was brewing is a mild mind control potion."

Dumbledore inhaled sharply. "Didn't you realize that from the ingredients you used?" asked Remus.

"The dark lord was smarter," replied Snape. Usually he would have retorted to that but today was different. "Using the ingredients he gave me it's not possible but if you add the hair of a unicorn, the hellbore in the potion will be neutralized without which it is possible."

"So basically he's now controlling all the idiots who decided to go to him thinking he was a reformed man," said Harry snorting.

A look from the professors silenced him.

"Realizing this I decided that I had to do more to find out what was going on," continued Snape. "I knew those the dark lord has confided in have sworn an unbreakable oath and I knew that whatever the plan was it was soon to be executed so I used those listening devices you gave me Albus."

Snape's eyes bored into Dumbledore's.

"He plans to release dragons over London at dawn."

Everyone's heart stopped for a moment.

"No way," said Harry horrified.

"And by dragons I don't mean the ones we have in the dragon reserves," he added.

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "You don't mean..."

"I do," said Snape, while Harry, Sirius and Remus looked on in confusion. "What do you mean?" asked Remus.

"He means that Voldemort has managed to capture a free dragon," said Dumbledore. "A free dragon is ten times larger than the ones we know of and is a hundred times harder to capture. They reside in the highest peaks in the world and are highly intelligent creatures. There have been barely ten sightings of them by wizards and muggles alike."

"How come we've never heard of them before?" asked Sirius. "And what about the dragons we know of?"

"The ones that we know of are like baby monkeys and the free dragons are the giants," said Snape. "And Albus, it's just one, it's three."

Four faces lost colour.

"But the dragon attack is simply going to be a distraction. Before I was discovered I heard that the true reason behind this attack is to seize control of the ministry. Subduing the dragons is not going to be an easy task and it will be a piece of cake for the dark lord to take control," finished Severus.

"But it's likely that's not the end of it right?" asked Harry, keeping the fear rising in him at bay. "How did you end up like this?"

"Potter's right," said Snape. "I didn't hear the entire plan before the dark lord found me and the charmed devices."

Remus gasped. "You escaped from Voldemort himself!" Even Sirius looked amazed.

"That's not important right now. What's important is Voldemort might have modified his plans knowing that part of his secret is out," said Dumbledore calmly.

"No," said Snape at once. "I found out that the dragons cannot be released before dawn as a result of the methods the dark lord used to capture them so we have time to counter him but there's no doubt that he would have certain safe guards in place to prevent us from ruining his plans."

"Its two thirty right now," said Harry. "That means we have about three hours come with _something_ to prevent the statue of secrecy from being permanently broken _and_ from preventing magical Britain from coming under the thumb of the dark lord."

"There no we Harry," said Sirius at once. "You and the rest of the kids are going to Hogwarts where you will be safe!"

"No!" said Harry outraged. "You said it yourself that I could be a part of this."

"Harry..." began Dumbledore.

"You know what I'm capable of professor and you know that I could wipe all your order members of the floor with ease," Harry said firmly. He ignored the amused look Remus was giving him.

"Harry, I do not have the time to convince you why you cannot be involved in this but trust my judgement," said Dumbledore. "Sirius, have the members gathered yet?"

"I sent a message to Tonks to gather everyone in the meeting area," replied Sirius, while looking at Harry apologetically. He didn't have a problem with Harry knowing what was going on but he certainly wasn't ready to let his godson right into the middle of a dangerous battle.

Harry frowned. When did Sirius manage to send a message to Tonks? He wondered. All he had seen him do was send a patronus to Kingsley. And didn't they always meet in the dining hall?

"Let's go then," said Dumbledore levitating Snape ahead of him and a very, very angry Harry was left watching their backs as they walked away from him without another word.

The four made their way to the dining room and Sirius locked the door behind him. Remus softly incanted a spell which began to echo a few order member's voices around randomly and it seemed like an actual discussion was taking place in the dining room. It would continue until their meeting got over. Dumbledore in the mean time pressed a button which was under the table and it opened up a hole in the ground.

"When do you think the kids will realize all they hear with those extendable ears is bullshit?" Sirius asked Remus with a grin.

"Never," replied Remus, "Unless we dropped them a hint of course."

Sirius kept grinned as they reached the bottom.

"So how long until Harry realises the hint _you_ gave him," asked Remus giving Sirius a disapproving look.

"If I know the kid he'll figure it out soon enough," laughed Sirius.

At the bottom was a large well lit room with a table in the middle surrounded with the members of the order of the phoenix. The room was painted in stripes of green, red, yellow and bronze and there was a large picture of a phoenix taking flight from an inferno on the ceiling.

There were neither doors nor any windows except for the bright orange lanterns floating about.

Albus helped Snape into his seat at the table and then took his seat at the head of the table. "Speak the oath," he said softly.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry went up the stairs, furious at Dumbledore. What was the point of training so hard if you weren't allowed to use the power at your disposal! Also the headmaster knew that Harry was an elemental and he knew how useful that power was!

But no matter, thought Harry as his temper came down. He knew the dragons were due to attack at dawn and when they would come, he would be ready.

When he reached the top of the stairs he found his way blocked by, well everybody under the age of seventeen in the house.

"What's going on Harry?" asked Lillian first.

"How come they let you stay when we were sent back?" demanded Hermione.

"Is the professor going to be alright?" whispered Ginny fearfully.

"Is there a meeting going on downstairs?" question Fred and George while Ron just glared at him.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered whether he should tell them part of the truth or just ignore them and leave.

He chose to tell them.

"Professor Snape's duties as a spy have come to an end," he said coolly.

Everybody gasped.

"Is he still alive?"

"He'll be fine and London is going to be attacked by dragons at dawn."

"No way!"

"Now that I've told you what the little I know, may I go to my room," he said acidly.

"But what are we going to do?" cried Hermione.

"You can do nothing," sneered Harry. "The order is having a meeting to figure something out and you can help by staying out of the way."

"But you're not going to stay away are you Harry?" said Lillian. Harry knew what she meant. She was going to go with him and there was no way he could stop her. He also knew that her power would be a huge advantage over those so called free dragons. Their fire would do no harm to her...probably.

"You know what we can do Lillian," he said softly. "And you know why I can't just sit back and watch."

Lillian looked at him piercingly before sighing and looking away. "I know," she said.

Harry closed the gap between them and whispered in her ear, "This is the beginning. Get some rest if you're going to join me," he murmured before going back to his room leaving her just standing there with a pained look on her face.

"What the hell was that all about," burst out Ron. "What did he tell you Mary!"

"The war has begun," was all she said ignoring the cacophony of questions that had erupted around her. Dawn was going to mark the beginning of a world she didn't think they were ready for.


	44. Chapter 41

**[Rated M for Death and Destruction henceforth]**

 **Chapter 41 – Dragon**

"Are you ready?" Harry asked Lillian. Both were in his room waiting mentally preparing themselves for fighting against dragons which were supposedly incredibly powerful. The order members had left Grimmauld place a while back having made their plans to counter Voldemort's attack and stop the inevitable rampage of the free dragons. The only problem was that they didn't know what Voldemort's end game was and their entire plan was based on what little information the potions master had gathered before he was discovered and on Dumbledore's in depth knowledge on how the dark lord had operated in the past. But Voldemort had changed a lot ever since his resurrection and it wasn't good news for all those who fought against the dark.

"Do you think it's a good idea to show everyone our power?" said Lillian worriedly.

Harry shrugged. "It was going to happen eventually, but we'll disguise ourselves anyways," he said and began applying glamour charms to her and him. He made Lillian's hair longer and changed its colour to light brown and her eyes matching her hair while he changed his hair to dirty blonde and his eyes blue. It wasn't much of a change but no one would recognise them unless they looked hard enough.

"Huh," muttered Lillian nonchalantly . "For a moment I thought you would make my hair green or something."

"You're an idiot," dead-panned harry. "Anyway I checked and it seems that Dumbledore has put up wards to make sure that we're unable to get out no matter what we try so we're going to be using your teleportation technique to get outside."

"Then what are we waiting for?" she asked.

Harry took a deep breath. "These dragons are supposed to be insanely strong. Even Dumbledore seemed worried about having to fight them. So if at any time you feel like it's too much just get the hell out of there okay?"

"We'll be fine Harry," murmured Lillian. "They are fire breathing creatures and I am a fire elemental. I'm sure we can handle them together."

"Still," replied Harry. "I don't want you dying out there and it being my fault."

Lillian felt something lurch in her stomach. He cared about her and didn't want to see her hurt! "Alright," she said softly and to a step closer to him. "Let's do this," she said determinedly.

Harry nodded and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her as she did the same. Together, they disappeared in a burst of fiery flames.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Some place else Lord Voldemort was finalising the last stages of his grand scheme.

"All of you have your orders," he said softly, looking at his faithful servants. "Do not make mistakes and the wizarding world will be ours today."

"What about Snape my lord?" asked Lucius. "He heard part of our plan and we can be sure that Dumbledore knows it as well now."

"He heard part of our plan Lucius," said Voldemort with a feral smile. "He did not hear the whole plan and that makes all the difference."

"Of course my lord."

"Now depart my friends," he said rising from his chair. "To Victory!"

"To Victory!" they shouted and one by one they departed.

With a dark smile on his face Voldemort made his way down the stairs at the corner of the room and made his way to the dungeons. At the bottom there was a door and beyond it an enormous cave which could not possibly exist if it weren't for magic.

There was one heavily drugged free dragon inside and it seemed to be coming out of its slumber. Voldemort walked up to it. His frame was barely half the size of its smallest tooth.

"I know you can hear me and understand me," he said looking into its half open eye, his voice laced with powerful magic. "I am going to transport you to my master and there he shall tear apart your body, experiment on you and use you for his own purposes. Know that I never wanted to do this to you but my master is much more powerful than me."

The ground began to shake as the dragon growled. Its mind was slowly clearing up and it didn't believe a word that was coming out from the little human's mouth.

"If you do not believe me then see for yourself when you get to him. Goodbye dragon," said Voldemort and he placed a portkey on its snout and appartated away. He had two other dragons to talk to.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry and Lillian appeared in the alley next to the leaky cauldron.

"So much better than normal wizarding transport," said Harry. "I should make you my personal transport!"

"Ha, ha," deadpanned Lillian.

The colour of the sky was changing slowly and both the teens hearts began to beat faster in anticipation.

"Where do you think it'll appear?"

"I don't know," replied Harry. "But we'll know when it comes." They had walked around for a few minutes when the ground suddenly shook violently. They had to grab on to something to prevent themselves from falling over. When what they knew wasn't an earthquake stopped the air was filled with a loud piercing roar which reverberated through their ears.

"What the hell!" screamed Lillian over the noise and covered her ears tried to block out that awful noise.

And then there was silence. Slowly they heard the sounds of wings flapping and then they saw it at some distance in the sky.

There were no words to describe it. The beast was colossal! They could see a dozens of skyscrapers around and it made them looks like ants staring up at a mammoth. It was blood red with a plated back. There were four horns like things sticking out of its head. It had a long snout and droopy whiskers which did nothing to make it any less scary. Its neck was long and it would have resembled a thick snake but its torso expanded out and its wing span was enormous! Thankful its tail was just a tail. The most dangerous thing about it was its orange eyes that were smouldering in rage.

Harry and Lillian were standing at least a mile away and it dragon looked so huge to them. They didn't even try to imagine it up close.

Suddenly a number of spells began to crash into it and the dragon faced up and let out another roar before changing its direction and headed straight for the wizards attacking it.

Harry and Lillian could only stare dumbly as they watched the dragon crash into the ground. Buildings began to crumble like sand castles and the two looked in growing horror as the air began to get saturated with screams and suddenly the streets were filled with panicked humans trying to get away from the raging dragon.

The sight of people running snapped the elementals out of their daze. "Let's go!" shouted Harry and grabbed on to Lillian's arm. "Take us there!"

The order of the phoenix was the only force of magical beings combating the dragon. There was no sign of the ministry aurors and they didn't expect them to make an appearance either.

"Keep bombarding it!" yelled Moody. "Don't let up!" Bodies were strewn around him, both wizards and muggles. Some of the order had suffered a painful death as they didn't apparate in time and got crushed by the falling debris.

" _Bombarda_!" thundered all the witches and wizards together. " _Bombarda!"_ They didn't let up. They kept bombarding it but all they succeeded in doing was to piss it off even more.

"Where's Dumbledore!" shouted Tonks and Sirius.

"Still setting up the runes with Doge and... APPARATE! The tail is coming this way!" All structure in a one kilometre radius and over ten feet tall were crushed to dust and the ground began to shake violently again as the dragon came crashing down trying to stomp whatever tiny moving thing it could see.

"This is insane!" screamed Hestia dodging the falling concrete. "I don't even know what part of it I'm aiming at!"

"Apparate two hundred meters back and continue attacking men!" ordered Moody.

There air was filled with a number cracking sounds as the wizards obeyed Moody and got a clearer view of the dragon.

"Aim for its eyes!" shouted Sirius. "The conjunctivitis curse NOW!"

But it did nothing to it. Unlike the dragons they were familiar with, this one was protected by magical all over.

"Moody, we need to get these people out of here!" cried Tonks. "They're getting in the way and their screams aren't helping!"

She was right. The muggles were running like headless chickens all around them in an effort to get away and they kept getting in the way of the order members.

"APPARATE!" thundered Moody and they blindly followed his command which was a good thing seeing the dragon crashed into the very spot they were in doing its best to pulverize the pesky humans who were irritating it.

A blinding bolt of lightning emitted from behind the order members which managed to push the dragon a few feet back.

Dumbledore had arrived and his body was literally radiating magical power. "Keep bombarding it, the runes are ready," he said coldly.

The dragon felt that bolt. It turned its eyes onto the old man who had hurt him and saw that this man fitted the description the one who had captured it gave. Dumbledore looked back at it calmly while ignoring the fires erupting everywhere and the hysterical screaming of the injured muggles.

"Attack!" screamed Moody and Dumbledore began to transfigure anything solid around him into large spears at super human speeds. He then traced a rune in the air with his wand and banished it at the spears. The runes suddenly multiplied and were engraved on all the now silver spears.

The Attack was powerful. Dozens of silver spears streaked through the sky and crashed into the dragon pushing it further back. It let out a roar of pain as some of the spears pierced its thick hide.

"Once more!" roared Dumbledore and unleashed another wave of rune encrusted sharp edged weapons at it.

"Yes!" cried the headmaster as the dragon fell into their trap. One by a one a crimson column of magic began to erupt around it, crimson being the colour representing destructive magic. The columns kept increasing and the dragons roar was drowned by the noise of the pillars of magic. Suddenly the columns converged on it and there was an enormous explosion.

Debris flew in all directions and for a moment everybody was blinded by the dust blowing around them.

"Alright!" screamed the order in joy. There was no way the dragon could have survived that they all thought. That was one of the most powerful runic attacks and it had taken them close to about two hours to set that up and added to that Dumbledore was the conduit which guided the magic.

Alas they were wrong.

"This is not possible," whispered Sirius. The dragon was still in one shape and had suffered some damage but nothing even remotely fatal. And from the looks of it, it was supremely pissed. "What do we do now Dumbledore!" they cried in despair.

"All of you go and help Mundungus and his team to evacuate and save as many muggles as you can," he said grimly.

"You don't mean to fight alone Albus!" said Moody angrily.

"Just go," he said as he prepared a spell. Moody hesitated before nodding and apparated away. They had to save as many lives as possible.

" _Meteosterilis_!" shouted Albus raising his wand to the sky. Part of the sky began to turn dark and one by one huge rocks covered in fire began to bombard the beast. The attack was greatly effective as the dragon cried out in pain as the rocks crashed into its body at great velocities. Albus was sure at least a few of its bones would have cracked.

The dragon immediately took flight and dodged the rest of what was like a meteor shower with surprising agility for its size. The rocks crashed into the city and Albus with a heavy heart realized that he might have just caused more deaths but he buried that feeling deep inside of him and focused on the dragon. And then something happened which shocked the headmaster.

A great volume of water and ice rammed into the dragons wings and began to freeze its body restricting its moment. With some effort it broke free of the ice and immediately lances of fire pierced its belly!

Dumbledore couldn't believe it. The dragons hide was finally pierced to a degree which they hadn't achieved! And then he saw the ones responsible. He saw through their disguise without even having to try. Two of his young students had disobeyed his orders to stay at the headquarters and had joined the battle.

He couldn't have been happier it was them.

"Good work freckles!" yelled Harry. "Keep attacking after me!" The wind was blowing furiously around them as water rocketed out of his arms twisted themselves into a shape that ironically looked like a dragon too. The only difference was that it was covered with spikes. Their elemental power was unleashed to maximum and the rings of silver and red in their eyes was proof of that!

"Don't call me that you green eyed freak," she yelled back. Her entire body was on fire and right behind Harry's dragon a fiery ball of elemental fire was taking the shape of a phoenix.

Having fire and ice so close to each other was creating a fog in the area and it helped hide them from the dragon's sights.

"Go!" they both shouted.

Harry's attack slammed into the dragon's torso. The sharp edged ice pierced through its hide with ease and blood began to pour out the holes the attack had punched in its body. The dragon roared in agony and was momentarily stunned. It began to fall back to the ground and wasn't given any time to recover as Lillian's phoenix slammed into its belly again and this time the dragon's skin began to burn to crisp and the flesh underneath it started to sizzle. Then with a resounding crash it fell onto a ten storey building which was still left standing.

Dumbledore apparated next to the pair with his wand at the ready.

"Lecture us later old man," said Harry without missing a beat earning a snort from Lillian. They reigned in their element and stared at the fallen dragon.

"I'm glad you came," was all he said before their attention snapped back to the beast.

Something weird was happening. There was some sort of pressure building in the air and it sent shivers down their spines.

The now badly hurt dragon was expanding its lungs and its entire body was beginning to crackle with what looked like electricity. But they knew it wasn't electricity but magic.

"If it blows fire, you know what to do freckles," muttered harry.

"I know," she said determinedly.

The dragon set its eyes on them and then it opened its mouth.

What came out wasn't fire, it was something they would have never imagined coming from the mouth of a dragon. All they saw was a pinkish glow before everything exploded.

When Harry came to he felt pain flare throughout his body. As he opened his eyes he thought Dumbledore had apparated them away to safety to some barren land. But then he saw the dragon and Dumbledore who was panting hard looking ready to lose consciousness. Lillian was moaning a few feet from him as she stirred. And there was nothing to his left or to his right and nothing behind him either.

"Wha-what happened!" he managed to spit out. Words were failing him as he saw the destruction around him. Except it wasn't destruction, everything that had experienced the dragons breath had simply ceased to exist! Apart from them it seemed.

"That was a roar of magic Harry," croaked Dumbledore. "The dragons we know of breath fire and it seems this once breathes magic. I had to use almost all my power to protect us and I won't be able to stop another of that kind of attack."

The dragon spotted then and something like surprise flashed through its eyes before they narrowed and with a powerful flap of its wings it hurtled towards them intending to finish of the powerful magic users and then levelling the city before heading back to the mountains.

Groaning Lillian slowly came to and pushed herself to her feet. Dumbledore did the same.

There was small flash and Harry's wand was out. It seemed to be vibrating and the young elementals eyes burned with determination and power as the dragon came closer and closer.

"Harry," began Dumbledore but harry simply raised his hand and silenced his headmaster.

"I'm sorry professor but I'm going to have to ask you to step back."

He then bent his knees and literally took off, a powerful jet of water propelling him towards the dragon. He closed his eyes and with his magic spread around, he tracked the dragon's movement. When the dragon was just a few dozen meters in front of him he directed his body to move above it and with a slash of his wand he screamed out the curse his wand had whispered to him.

" _Glaciesvoxtalea_!"

An arc of white light burst out of his wands and began to dig itself into the beast's neck. There was a scream of will from harry and a screen of protest from the dragon as it tried to deflect the spell with its magic. And then the spell cut through.

Its head went flying and its body plummeted. It was over in a matter of seconds.

Dumbledore conjured a net and quickly caught Harry before he fell. There was big smile on his face and Lillian was whopping in joy.

I'm shocked you're not in Gryffindor Harry," said Dumbledore.

People were apparating around them and they too roared in triumph seeing the now headless dragon.

"That was bloody incredible!" said Tonks.

"Who are you people?" asked an exuberant Sirius.

Moody's good eye widened in shock as his magical eye saw through their glamour's. But he kept his mouth shut.

"What's the situation outside Alastor?" asked Dumbledore and instantly the mood turned dark.

"It's bad Albus," he said. "The muggles have no idea what just hit them. That attack by that damn beast went on for miles! It wouldn't be a stretch to say that thousands if muggles are dead and hundreds more injured."

Everyone listened in horror.

"The muggles are terrified and every human in a 5 mile radius is trying to leave the city. We put up some muggle repealing wards in the area when you sent us away but. . . . . . . ."

Moody stopped when he saw Dumbledore's expression change.

"The wards!" he said in shock.

"Which wards?" asked Sirius.

"Hogwarts," said Dumbledore and then they remembered Snape saying there three dragons not just one.

"The wards at Hogwarts just collapsed," repeated Dumbledore numbly.

Just then Kingsley apparated in and he didn't even spare a glance at the slain dragon. "We have a situation Albus," he said in panic.

"What happened?"

"The ministry has fallen," he said. "The minister and a few aurors escaped and I helped them make it to one of our safe houses."

"This is terrible! How did it happen!" asked Jones.

"We were attacked just as Albus predicted but we couldn't have imagined we would be attacked by the other ministries of magic," he said helplessly. "France, Bulgaria, Spain and a few more came through the international relations office and the death eaters attacked from outside. It was a massacre."

And if the situation could not get worse Mundungus apparated near them and as he ran closer they saw the look of fear on his face and braced themselves for more bad news.

"It's terrible Dumbledore!" he cried out. "Deatheaters and dementors are attacking the muggles an' there are nearly a hundreds of them! They seem to be celebrating!"

"What should we do Albus!" they asked urgently. But the powerful wizard's attention had shifted elsewhere.

"Where's Harry?" he demanded.

"He was just here," said Lillian bewildered.

"Harry? As in my godson Harry!"

"Oh no," muttered Dumbledore. "All of you go back to headquarters," he barked. "You too Lillian."

"Lillian?" gasped Tonks recognising the girl.

"Go now!" commanded Dumbledore. "There's nothing we can do now. Our power has depleted and Voldemort has struck a terrible blow against us. Now what we need to do is to regroup and plan our next course of action." Hearing the tone of his voice one by one the order disapparared and Sirius took Lillian with him.

Harry sped towards the flashes of light using his magic to increase his speed. Perenelle's words were ringing in his ears. " _Don't let the enemy live," she had said. "Those who enjoy torturing and killing simply do not deserve to live."_

Harry dodged the mass of people trying to get away from the deatheaters and then he saw them. They were so many of them and they were destroying buildings and killing people with ease and Harry could see their delight in doing so. These were the men, he thought. These were the people he could kill and then not feel guilty about killing them.

"Please no!" he heard a woman scream and his eyes picked out a sickening green spell fly towards a women fallen who was trapped between some debris. Harry intercepted the spell with a rock and banished the beam trapping the woman.

"Get out of here," he said and the temperature began to drop.

"Th-thank you," said the woman and hightailed it out of there.

" _Bombarda!"_ hissed Harry and the deatheaters in the front didn't even have a chance to express their surprise as they exploded in a shower of blood and gore. The deatheaters stopped their rampage and looked at the disguised harry in shock. Clearly they weren't expecting any resistance from anyone!

"He must be one of Dumbledore's stooges! Kill him!" yelled one of the black robed men.

"I'd like to see you try," said Harry with a chilling smile and then slammed his palms into the ground. The deatheaters who didn't react in time were dead within seconds as huge icicles burst out of the ground piercing them. It was a painfully beautiful sight; Blood soaked crystals illuminated by the fires roaring around them.

"He's dangerous!" someone shouted. "Surround him and take him out!" Their dark curses were easy to dodge no matter how many of them were there. They were slow and Harry had trained too much and too hard with Perenelle to let them hit him.

Wand in one hand and with the power of water and ice in the other, Harry decimated the deatheaters. With his magic ready to sense their moments and location, they could not catch him but he was easily able to find them. He sliced, conjured ice scythes, sent blasting curses and did his best to make sure that once they were down, they _stayed_ down.

In no time at all their numbers were cut down to less than half. They summoned the dementors they had brought with them but to their immense shock, their opponent's body literally exploded out a massive mass of water and then drenched the foul creatures.

The dementors screeched pitifully but Harry showed no mercy for those things. Just as soon as they had come, they had become blocks of ice and Harry then simply blasted them into smithereens.

"You all just deserve to die for what you have done!" he snarled at the remaining deatheaters. With the amount of water Harry had splashed around, the fires around them had long been extinguished and the deatheaters didn't even notice their legs began to freeze. They were trapped and they could do nothing but look at the demon in front of them in horror.

Some of them didn't even think twice before they disapparated. Harry winced and almost all of them left half their bodies behind. "They are going to die painfully for sure," he muttered.

"P-please," cried out of the men who had stayed behind. "D-don't kill us! We were forced by the dark lord!"

Harry quietly walked towards the man while manoeuvring around the broken bodies, the crushed pieces of steel and concrete, shattered glass and various broken house hold items that now littered the ground.

His eyes changed back to the emerald green and the thin silver circle encircling his pupil was pulsing with power.

"No you were not," he said. "You went to him by choice and you killed these innocent people with laughter bubbling in your throats, I saw it. Well now you die with blood in your throats," he whispered. He slammed his foot into the ground and thin spikes of ice pierced their throats. Harry just watched dispassionately as they choked on their own blood and he kept watching until the light vanished from their eyes. Harry had left alive and he turned towards him and watched as the man whimpered in fear.

"W-Who, who are y-you?" he stammered.

"I am the one who will kill you all," hissed harry. He placed a finger on the man's frozen legs and released him. "You can leave in one piece and tell your fellow foot soldiers what will happen to them should they chose to kill more innocents."

The deatheater whimpered and then disapparated.

Harry looked at all the people he had slaughtered and began to feel nauseous. He then turned to the side and emptied the contents of his stomach. Perenelle had taught him how to kill, she had made sure he could kill a murderer without having to hesitate and that's what he had done. She had prepared him for war as well as possible but nothing, absolutely nothing could have prepared Harry for this. Killing so many people for the first time without Perenelle around just made him sick inside.

But no! He would stay strong and not show any weakness for this was just the beginning. He knew it was about to get a whole lot worse.

Harry heard glass cracking behind him and turned around sharply and saw a severely shaken Dumbledore looking at him.

"What have you done Harry," said Dumbledore sounding horrified as he surveyed the carnage both harry had caused.

"What was necessary sir," said Harry tonelessly. "If I hadn't they would have just continued what they were doing until their lust was sated."

"And killing them was the answer!" he asked coldly. "Sinking to their level was necessary!"

"So you'd rather we let them go on slaughtering muggles who can't defend themselves?" said Harry tiredly.

"You could have restrained them."

"I'm tired can we go back?" said Harry, not in the mood to argue. He was feeling empty inside and he just wanted to go and sleep for now.

Dumbledore gave Harry a piercing stare before nodding with regret in his eyes. It was a terrible day when a fourteen year old had to believe that killing was necessary. He gently took hold of Harry's arm and they apparated away silently.

In one swoop Voldemort had taken over. Not just a few but all the major ministries of magic around the globe had fallen into his hands. While the Bones administration was strengthening their ministry, Voldemort had focused on the other ministries and they were unprepared for having to deal with a powerful dark lord. One by one they had fallen and no one even realized it had happened.

But the worst was yet to come. Voldemort hadn't remained silent in the non magical world either. The wizards and witches who fought for good were about to get more bad news as they tried to come to terms with the fall of the wizarding world.


	45. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42 – Is This Real?**

London was burning.

The once magnificent city was engulfed in fire. There was a stench of death floating in the air and panic was the only emotion alive amongst the survivors. The government was annihilated in spite of the protection provided by the order of the Phoenix. The world was in chaos and the global economy was suddenly in tatters. Voldemort had shut the city from outside contact and any attempt by muggles to enter the city was met with destructive curses. There were more than a dozen squads of deatheaters roaming the city and their job was the raze everything to the ground and that includes the lives of anyone not on their side.

The destruction of the city was not undertaken by the wizards alone. The goblin's had joined forces with Voldemort and for those creatures that were so skilled at building tunnels deep under the ground, destroying large structures was almost too easy. Thousands of them scoured the city salvaging all the gold they could find and how much they did find! Gold from banks, gold from the once magnificent residence of the queen, gold from the rubble that was London, it was unimaginable. Voldemort promised them land and gold and he expected the goblins to give him forty percent of what they found and access to all the vaults of Gringotts.

It was a deal the goblin's accepted gleefully and the cherry on top for them was that Voldemort allowed them to do their own research on wands enabling them to finally having some sort of access to wandlore. The great city was now open to all kinds of magical creatures and they had the freedom to do whatever they wished and live where ever they wanted. For them Voldemort was like a gift from Merlin himself and they would fight to the death for him.

Hogwarts

The body of a dragon lay just outside the gates of Hogwarts. Crushing the powerful wards of Hogwarts resulting in it getting burnt to crisp within seconds and thanks to that the headmaster's office was now occupied by the greatest dark lord in the history of the magical world, Lord Voldemort.

"How goes the redecorations Lucius?"

"Wonderfully my lord, the muggles are being hunted down by the second and so far we haven't seen any of the order putting up some kind of resistance."

"Any sight of this so called silver eyed demon?" asked Voldemort, a frown creasing his forehead. They had heard of the accounts of the survivor of their first squad and just after he managed to stutter out what had happened he had left for the afterlife. It hadn't been a pleasant job for those who had to clear up the mess made by those who had splinched themselves so terribly.

"No my lord," replied Lucius uncomfortably. "But I am sure it was one of the order. It most probably could have been Moody under a glamour charm. As far as we know he is the only one in that group who would not hesitate to kill."

"Do you believe him capable of slaughtering a hundred of my mine alone Lucius?" asked the dark lord raising his eyebrows.

"The rest of them must have been hidden," said the blonde man lamely.

"Be as it may, I want this person captured and I want him captured alive," he said dangerously. "How go the preparations of the ' _Arcem Tenebris_ '," he asked.

"The land has been cleared and the goblins are going to start once their greed has been sated. Yaxley and Rudolphus are overseeing the progress."

"Hmmm... good."

"If I may, what is going to become of the school my lord?"

"It shall continue to function as a school my friend," replied Voldemort with a smirk. "Only this time it won't be limited to the so called ministry guidelines. Real magic shall be taught to those who are capable of wielding a wand."

"Muggleborns included?"

Voldemort sighed at Lucius's narrow mindedness. "After our purge there won't be any more muggles so I think the term muggleborn shall soon become obsolete," he said dragging out the words as if talking to a child.

Lucius didn't get the insult and grinned. "I can't wait for the order to try something or even the muggles! Once they see the depths of our preparations, watching their hopes escape them would be wonderful!"

"Calm yourself before you wet the floor Lucius," said Voldemort chuckling. "But you are correct. Go now, you have your new assignment and I don't think it will be that difficult now."

Lucius stood up and bowed. "I shall soon bring joyous news my lord," and then he left.

Voldemort failed to notice Phineas Black slip out of his portrait as soon as Lucius left the office. Lord Voldemort may occupy the seat of the headmaster but the true headmaster was still Albus Dumbledore and as long as Voldemort operated from the headmaster's office, the order had an extremely valuable spy in place.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

 **A Bunker deep under the ground**

"General, I want to know what that thing is and I want to know who is responsible now! We are on the brink of a world war and with no one claiming responsibility over this catastrophe god only knows how long it will take for someone to make the first move!"

"Mr. President, we are doing our best but no matter how you look at it, that thing on the screens is a god damn Dragon!"

President Hodge took a deep breath to try and bring down his rising blood pressure. "People are losing their minds Smith. Riots are breaking out and half the news channels around the world are convinced we should be striking the middle east with all our might!"

"I believe I can help you answer some of the questions you have President Hodge, General Smith."

Albus Dumbledore suddenly found himself facing at least a dozen 357 calibre pistols and a number of sub machine guns in a split second.

"Who are you and how did you get in here!" barked General Smith.

Dumbledore smiled serenely. "What you see on your screens is indeed a dragon and I must say it is simply incredible that you can take pictures from outer space!"

"Who are you old man?" growled President Hodge. "And what do you know about what happened in London."

"First of all you may address me as Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry," he said. Although, soon to be ex-headmaster," he added sadly.

Everybody stared at him dumbfounded.

"Did you say magic?"

"London was attacked and destroyed by the dark lord Voldemort and I suggest you lower your weapons and listen to me if you wish to prevent the destruction of the world."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Grimmauld Place Number 12**

"What do you mean we're relocating?" Hermione asked Sirius.

"What I mean is it won't be long before Voldemort finds this place and crushes us to pieces so we are relocating! Now go and pack your things and make sure your friends pack up too."

"But Sirius, the house in under the fidelius charm! No matter what Voldemort does, he cannot find us!"

"He most certainly cannot find this place, but with the number of clues to our location lying around, he just has to point his wand in a direction he feels is right and start blasting out curses. And with the amount of resources he has at his disposal it will be easy for him to crush us. Now GO!"

"So we're running away?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I will not ask again Hermione. These are the headmaster's orders. If you want to argue some more, you can argue with Molly. She'll be most happy to entertain your queries," he said and left. He had more important things to do, like finding Harry and making sure he stayed put!

He met Mundungus on his way to Harry's room. "No point lookin' in there Sirius," said Mundungus. "The kid left the house again."

"Again!" cried Sirius.

"It's a bit difficult to keep an eye on a kid who could crush you with his little finger you know," he grumbled.

"Does he know where our new headquarters are?"

"Dumbledore gave him a portkey," he said. "And even after that him askin me to keep an eye out for him makes no sense at all!"

"What about the rest of the kids?"

"The fire girl is all packed and so is her dad. The other kids are almost done too."

"Okay good. When they're done take them to the new place and stay there," said Sirius.

"Roger that," replied Dung and strolled away, probably looking a place he could smoke without being caught by Molly.

Sirius hurried down to the basement. The order's meeting place had a good stock of fire whiskey and he was sure they were going to need a good supply of that once they left this place for good. On the way he ran into Arthur who was sweating quite a bit.

"What happened to you?"

"Fiendfire heading our way! Some trigger happy death eater let it loose and now it's out of control!" he said trying his hardest not to panic. "We have to leave now!"

"Get any one left in the house out now! I'll get Tonks!"

"What about Harry?" asked Arthur.

Sirius eyes clouded with worry. "I'll find him and come," he said and hurried off to the kitchen where Tonks was packing up their food reserves.

"Tonks leave the rest and get out now!" he yelled bursting into the kitchen.

Tonks froze.

"Are you eating chocolates?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"I finished packing and I was hungry!" she defended.

"Whatever," growled Sirius. "Take the food and leave now. Fiendfire is heading our way."

"What!"

"Go now Tonks," he shouted and then ran out towards the entrance. "Where are you Harry?" was the only thought on his mind as he yanked the front door open and stepped out.

It was a horrific sight that met his eye. His skin felt like it would melt any second and there was an enormous column of black flames which seemed to take the form of number of lunging serpents consuming everything in its path. "Harry!" he screamed, he knew it was of no use. He had to go before the fire consumed him too.

He looked around one last time in the hopes of catching a glimpse of his godson but to no avail. Closing his eyes and praying for Harry's safety his hands closed around the portkey in his pocket and he whispered, " _Live on_ ," and then he felt a sharp tug below his navel as the portkey activated.

A few minutes later the roaring black flames crashed into the wards of Grimmauld place number 12 and destroyed them in seconds before consuming the entire neighbourhood and moving on.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Outskirts of London**

Harry walked over the bodies of the fallen goblins, deatheaters and muggles with Alastor Moody right beside him.

"I'm surprised at your capacity to kill so easily," growled the auror.

"Let's just say I was prepared for this moment," replied Harry.

"And that power," continued Moody. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen before! With you in our ranks I don't think anyone except Voldemort himself can stop you."

"Thanks," said Harry with a small smile. "Where did you see those muggles again?"

Moody jerked his head towards a small building that hadn't been destroyed yet.

"Hard to believe that the goblins joined forces with Voldemort," said Harry.

"It's not hard at all," scoffed Moody. "For those nasty little creatures the lesser humans on the planet the happier they are."

"Now don't make any sudden moment," said Moody as they reached the entrance of the building. "If the muggles in here are armed they won't hesitate to defend themselves. Let me do all the talking and keep your wand hidden."

They walked inside looking around carefully for signs of moment.

"Basement?" whispered Harry.

Moody nodded and they headed for the stairway.

"Freeze," rasped out a harsh male voice from behind them.

The pair slowly turned around and found two young men holding shotguns aimed at their heads.

"We don't mean you any harm sonny," said Moody calmly. "We're here to help you."

"Don't listen to him Tom," said the other man. "You saw what they did to those creatures!"

"And I'm sure you also noticed those creatures killing people and us stopping them."

The two looked unsure of themselves. It wasn't hard to notice the look of terror and fear ripe in their eyes.

"Just put down the weapons," said Moody. "All we want to do is take you and any survivors to a safe place."

"Why should we trust you! We saw your weird powers! For all we know you're one of them and this is just a ruse to lower our guard!"

"We're not armed," said Moody. "I'm an old man and with me is just a fourteen year old kid. Do you really think this is a plot? Listen to me Tom, its Tom right? You have to trust me if you want to get out of this hell hole before the real enemy finds you!"

"I think we should listen to him Tom," said the other man, lowering his shotgun.

"Don't drop your guard Frank! Do you remember how those creatures ate..." his voice faltered as memories of the horrific events that had occurred in the past few days rushed back to him. "How they ate Lisa and Anna! For all we know this is just their disguise!"

There was a blast outside that shook the building.

"Tom, there are more of those creatures outside!" yelled Frank in panic. "I think we should listen to these people!"

Moody didn't say anything.

"Tom!"

There were few tense seconds as Tom struggled to come to a decision.

"Alright... alright!" he said finally and lowered his shotgun.

"Good," said Moody with a smile. He had applied some glamour's to his face so as to not freak out the muggles. "Now, how many of you are there here?"

"About fifty," said Frank.

"Bring them all down; we're going to leave now." Frank nodded and quickly ran up yelling for everyone to come down.

"And how are we going to leave?" asked Tom.

"I'm going to hold back that horde of goblins while you talk to the muggles," said Harry speaking up for the first time.

"Hold them back?" muttered Tom.

"Oh my mistake," said Harry grinning, "I mean slaughter them."

Tom looked horrified at that and Moody just sighed.

Harry stepped out of the building with his eyes glowing silver. He raised his arms to the sky and then water burst out of his hands. Just as water began to fall back to the ground, drops of water became drops of ice and suddenly the goblins found holes being punched into their bodies.

They looked ahead and saw a young boy who looked like he was about fifteen or sixteen with glowing silver eyes staring down at them with a smile on his face.

"It's the silver eyed demon!" shouted the goblin in the lead. "Take him down!"

The goblins then pointed their long fingers at Harry and in unison shouted a curse in Gobbledygook. Harry swiftly conjured a blue shield that shattered under the force of their spell and he was forced to take cover. He rolled over and hide behind a wrecked car and then without wasting any time he quickly sent a wave of water towards them with the power of a giant behind it. The goblins were swept away.

"Harry we're ready!" shouted Moody from inside.

"Damn," muttered Harry, letting go of his element as his eyes slowly lost that silver ring which surrounded his pupil. He went back inside and saw a number of women, men and kids his age or more holding onto a long rope. All of them had dirty clothes on and a look of utter hopelessness in their eyes.

"Grab onto the end," barked Moody.

Harry nodded and took hold of the end of the rope. He looked beside him and saw a girl of about fifteen looking at him. He smiled at her and she quickly looked away in fright. All of them had seen what he had done to those goblins.

" _Live on_ ," murmured Moody and they were whisked away from London.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Beauxbatons, France**

Two wizards and around fifty muggles landed hard on the ground. Only one stayed on his feet.

"Are you all alright?" asked Moody.

"Yeah right," groaned Harry pushing himself to his feet. "That had to be the worst mode of transport I've ever been on."

"It was an international portkey," said Moody grinning. "What did you expect?"

Harry just frowned and looked around and his eyebrows rose high at the sight in front of him. He could see tents everywhere! There had to more than hundreds of them and there were so many people around too! A little further away was a huge mansion which looked like one of those expensive boarding schools you saw in the movies.

"Where are we?"

"Beauxbatons," replied Moody.

"France!" gasped Harry.

"Yes we're in France. Now go inside and find your friends while I deal with the muggles. I'm sure Sirius is waiting to lay into you for disappearing on him again."

Harry nodded and hurried towards the school. On his way he saw so many people all just sitting outside their tents quietly doing nothing. It was a very depressing sight but he couldn't exactly blame them for that.

When he reached the school he saw Lillian and Hermione sitting outside talking.

"Harry!" said Lillian when she spotted him. "Where the hell have you been!"

"Oh hi," said Harry. "I was with Moody looking for survivors back home."

"Did you find any?" asked Hermione. They had been made aware of Harry and Lillian's powers and since then Hermione had made it a point to talk to Harry civilly.

"About fifty," he said. "They were almost attacked by goblins. Do you know where Sirius is?"

"Come on, I'll show you," said Lillian jumping up. "This place is really amazing. Almost everything seems to be made out of crystal!"

Harry couldn't help but nod dumbly as he entered the famed French school. There were bronze statues of all the previous headmasters and headmistresses lined up along the entrance hall which was long, wide and high! There were at least a dozen crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and there were candles burning blue flames floating above them. At the very end of the corridor a very large well polished door stood covering the entire length and breadth of the wall.

Hermione and Lillian pushed the door open and inside seemed to be the dining hall of the school. There were tables covered with expensive looking covers lined up parallel to each other with very comfortable looking chairs beside them.

"Why don't we have chairs like that in Hogwarts!" wondered Harry out loud.

"Because the fee here is astronomical compared to our own," said Hermione with a snort. "And the people here are rich stuck up purebloods unlike our school."

It seemed clear to Harry that Hermione did not like this place. He quietly followed the pair as the left through a side door and up a stairway. Harry soon realized what Lillian meant by there were crystals everywhere. The door handles were made out of crystal too and almost everywhere there where chandeliers hanging around. It seemed however had built this place had an obsession with objects made from crystal.

"So who all are here?" Harry asked them.

"Many from Hogwarts," said Lillian. "Minister Bones and a lot of high ranking ministry officials and many wizards from other countries too. It seems like this school is going to become their base of operations for now."

"Where are you all staying?"

"We're living in the dorms with the other girls in the school," said Lillian. "And let me tell you I hate them from the bottom of my heart!"

Hermione nodded vigorously in agreement. "They don't even seem to care that a war has broken out! All they're interested in is boys, looking pretty and having expensive clothes.

"Huh, wonder how the boys here are," muttered Harry. "Where are they anyway, the students I mean."

"Having classes," said Lillian. "This section of the school has been given to us until we find a proper headquarters."

"I thought you said this place was going to become our base of operations?"

"Well I certainly hope not!" said Lillian.

"Wait a minute. When did you guys get here?" Harry asked suddenly.

"A few hours back," said Hermione.

"And you've already concluded how the people are here!"

"Wait till you see them and then see how fast you come to a conclusion," snorted Lillian.

"We're here," said Hermione while knocking on the door in front. It was opened by Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry!" she gasped and then wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.

Harry winced at the tight grip, "Would you mind letting me go!"

"Where have you been young man," she scolded, "Do you have any idea how worried we've been!"

Harry ignored her and walked into the room which was much larger than it was supposed to be. It had been converted into a lounge of sorts and there were dozens of witches and wizards around. Harry spotted Sirius near one of the windows and hurried towards the man.

"Hiya Sirius," he said cheerfully. "How you been?"

Sirius glared at him, "I told you not to leave and yet you always ignore me. What good am I as your godfather if you won't even listen to me!"

"This is war Sirius. We all have to fight."

"You're just fourteen!" he burst out. "What the hell do you mean fight? You shouldn't be anywhere near this war!"

"I'll talk to you later if you're going to act like this," said Harry narrowing his eyes. "I am going to fight Sirius and you know you can't stop me."

"No," replied Sirius immediately, "No I can't. And that's what makes it even worse for me," he said before walking away leaving Harry alone. Dumbledore hadn't told anyone of what Harry had done to the deatheaters when the dragon had been slain. Only the headmaster and Moody knew and Moody was more than happy to make use of Harry's powers on the battlefield.

Harry stared out of the window angrily. He hated it when people tried to tell him what to do. He was more than capable of making his own decisions! With a huff he turned away from the window and stormed out of the room, maybe some exploring would make him feel better.

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Ministry Of Magic, Hall of Prophecies**

Lord Voldemort stood in front of a ball of sphere which had his name along with Harry Potter's name on looked at it curiously for a few minutes wondering what it could possibly say before lifting it from its pedestal and smashing it on the floor.

A pearly white image of Sybill Trelawney rose from the remains of the glass sphere and then spoke in a harsh voice.

 _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..."_

The dark lord just stood there contemplating the gravity and meaning of those words for a good fifteen minutes before a wicked smile broke out on his face.

"Wonderful," he murmured and swept out of the room and made his way to the atrium where his loyal subjects had gathered.

As soon as he entered the atrium everyone who had gathered dropped to their knees.

"Rise my friends," said Voldemort, his eyes shining. "The remodelling of our world has begun. As we speak invitations are being sent to all kinds of magical beings to come out of hiding and take their rightful place in this world. This is just one city we have purged of filth. We have an entire world remaining and we shall most definitely conquer it!" he shouted.

The mass of his followers roared.

"Remember my friends, this is just the beginning of our rise! Now go. Go and spread the word to all to come out of hiding and take up residence in the heart of London!"

One by one they disapparated and when all had gone Voldemort turned to his right hand man.

"Did you find out who was responsible for the Fiendfire?" he asked Lucius Malfoy.

"Yes my lord, and he has been dealt with. But you should also know that that fire took out the headquarters of the order. The Fiendfire destroyed the fidelius charm and Bellatrix was able to remember where her home was."

"Excellent," hissed Voldemort. "Do we know where they have run away to?"

"No my lord. We are still working on that," said Lucius.

Voldemort stayed silent.

"But we do have a few leads," said Lucius quickly.

"Good," said Voldemort with a smirk. "And do make sure the reconstruction of the city goes as planned. Once the construction is complete every witch and wizard will want to join our cause!"

Lucius smiled. He had seen the plans and they were magnificent!

"Have the giants and vampires arrived yet?"

"Dolohov is dealing with it my lord. The vampire elders are still gathering the hidden covens so it might be a while before they are ready to relocate. The giants on the other hand do not wish to leave the mountains."

"Let them be then," said Voldemort. "Yaxley met with the druid clans and they are willing to come to our city on the condition that we provide them with a forest which will make it worth moving."

"A forest?" exclaimed Lucius. Where were they going to get a forest from in the ruins of London!

"Yes Lucius a forest. So I suggest you gather the potion masters and start growing a forest to the east with every magical plant in there. After all what good is a magical city without a magical forest."

"We have the forbidden forest for that my lord," said Lucius hesitantly.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "I suggest you get to it Lucius. I want our city to be ready by the end of the year and then we can proceed with the next stage of the plan."

Lucius nodded and quickly disapparated. He too was looking forward to the next stage of the master plan. After all it was the most important of all!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Beauxbatons**

It was finally dark and all the members of the now burnt to ground Grimmauld place numbers 12 were gathered together. Adults and children included.

"How did the meetings with the muggles go?" asked Arthur softly.

"Most of the world leaders after much persuasion and reasoning have agreed to help us," said Madam Bones. She was sitting opposite Mad eye Moody and the two exchanged killer looks every now and then.

"The American president tried to have me arrested and interrogated," said Albus with some amusement.

"What did you do?" asked Fred Weasley grinning.

"I had to show him what magic is capable of," replied Dumbledore. "And after that they were most cooperative."

Some of the wizards laughed.

"Do you think it's alright having the kids around while we discuss this Albus?" asked Molly. She couldn't accept the idea of having her kids involved in a war. Especially a war that had essentially sent them into exile before they even had a chance to fight back.

"We're all in this together now Molly," said Dumbledore sympathetically. He knew how hard it was for Molly to accept this. She had never quite gotten over the loss of her brothers in the last war.

"But the problem we now face is that most of the muggle presidents and prime ministers have decided to launch a synchronised attack on London. They are using their space cameras to pin point where to strike and they will be doing so in a few days time," said Dumbledore.

"That's a good thing right?" stated Tonks.

"It's a bad thing because we don't know how far Voldemort has planned. We don't know if he has accounted for an assault from the muggles and if he has then this attack could back fire badly," said Madam Bones.

"Bones is right," said Sirius, sitting beside Harry. "Before he launched the attack on the ministry and pretty much every magical body of power we know of, he had the support of nearly every magical government in the world barring a few. We don't know what else he has been up to and done in the months when he was torturing us with silence."

"Half the muggle leaders could be under the imperius curse," said Kingsley.

"No," said Dumbledore. "Before we met with them we checked them and their staff for signs of the imperius curse and none of them seemed to be under its influence."

"Then there must be others who are not visibly important," said Arthur.

His point hit home and everybody was left wondering what Voldemort could find attractive in the muggle world.

It was Lillian father who came to a realization. "Nuclear weapons," he whispered, but his voice carried to everybody.

All those who knew what the weapons were gasped in shock and Dumbledore elaborated for those who didn't know what they were.

"They are weapons that could destroy an entire city in a flash," he said solemnly. "With just about a dozen of them, he could destroy the entire world."

"But we don't know that for sure right," said Emmeline Vance nervously. "This is all just speculation right?"

"It is," said Dumbledore. "But it seems very much possible that Voldemort could have control of these weapons. What we need to do now is meet with the muggles again and find out where they keep these weapons."

"I don't believe this," whispered Tonks. "How could we let this happen? Weren't we supposed to be keeping an eye on Voldemort's moments!"

"He hoodwinked everybody," said Severus Snape, speaking up for the first time. "The dragon attack was just a distraction and to make us believe they were his trump card he amped up their power too."

Many looked confused at that.

"What Severus means is that after Harry managed to kill the dragon, we examined its body and found an incredible number of powerful runes carved into its body. Those runes made the dragon seem invincible to us. The only reason Harry was able to cut its head of was because our runes, the ones which should have turned it to dust were able to nullify the runes Voldemort had carved into it. Also we found some really powerful potions in its system which was designed to simply make it rage around instead of being the intelligent beast that it is supposed to be."

"So in other words we were screwed over royally, made to look like fools and then made to flee from our homes like rats," said Snape bitterly.

"I can't believe this is happening," said Hermione holding on to her father tightly. "I mean is this for real or are we just dreaming?"

"This is real Hermione," said McGonagall. "This is as real as it gets and the only way to survive is to fight back."

"Minerva's right. We have to fight back!" said Diggle passionately. "We must strike back! We must show the dark lord that we will never give up and he can never rest until one of us still draws breath!"

Murmurs began to grow as everybody began to voice their agreement with Diggle.

"Voldemort wants a world war and a war with the entire world against him is what we will give him," said Charlie Weasley loudly.

The muttering began to become even louder.

"Let's take the fight to you know who!" shouted another.

Dumbledore then raised his hands and everybody fell silent eagerly awaiting Dumbledore's verdict.

"We will coordinate with the muggle leaders and launch an assault against Voldemort," he said and the room exploded into cheers.

"Now let us thank Madame Maxime for her hospitality by joining her for dinner," said Dumbledore. "And after that we shall begin planning our counter attack. We must not underestimate Voldemort's capacity to think ahead and I am sure he was planned for this. Ladies and Gentlemen, we most probably will lose many loved ones in this war but I want you all to know that no matter what happens we will always be there for each other."

"Men, Women and children... I salute you."

And he meant it.


	46. Part 2 - Chapter 1

**PART TWO**

 **Chapter 1: A Resistance?**

He was running.

The loud thump of his boot against the floor echoed in the narrow corridor as he ran towards his destination. Sweat was dripping into his eyes making them burn but he paid no mind to it. His chest was cramping up but he knew that he was all but a few seconds away from the door.

He didn't bother with opening the door and instead just slammed into it bringing it off his hinges and both the door and he went crashing to the floor.

The occupants inside had all risen to their feet and had their wands trained on the intruder.

"Professor Dumbledore," gasped the man from his position on the floor. "They made it in!"

Murmurs broke out in the room and it was clear that none of them thought it to be possible.

"That is wonderful news," whispered Albus Dumbledore, leader of the resistance.

Gathering his breath the man gave the now crushed letter to the ex-headmaster and turned red when Albus raised his eyes at the condition of the small piece of paper.

"I was in a hurry," he mumbled.

Dumbledore smiled, "You did well," he said. "Now go back to your post. I hope you left someone in your stead when you left."

The man paled and then dashed out of the room, back to his post cursing himself all the way.

Albus quickly scanned the contents of the letter and then his face fell. "Oh dear." All that was scribbled was ' _found a way, scouting.'_

"What does it say?" asked a woman from the back.

"They found a way in but instead of waiting for backup they've gone in," he said grimly.

Gasps flew around the room. "Are they mad!" burst out Remus, "It's practically five of them verses Voldemort's entire army!"

"Did the mention how they penetrated the barrier?" asked Snape. "We could assemble a team to back them up."

Dumbledore shook his head. "Nymphadora and her team are still locked in combat with the werewolves in Ireland. Kingsley and his team are helping the survivors of the vampire attacks in Madrid and the attacks haven't stopped yet. I fear it's only a matter of time before the bloodshed reach us."

"What about the other teams?" asked Mr. Delacour in heavily accented English. "The one's in Spain?"

"We don't have the man power and we need to be here when France is attacked. But it wouldn't matter," he said. "They didn't mention how they got in."

Mr. Austin, Lillian's father sighed. "Are the US officials still being a pain in the arse?"

"They have accepted the existence of magic but they refuse to believe they are at war. They say their weapons are safe and even if some of their officers were under the imperius curse, it wouldn't be enough to launch the weapons," said Dan Granger. Hermione's father had been in the army before leaving and starting his own dental clinic. Dumbledore had made him in charge of talks with the Americans since every witch and wizard capable of wielding a wand efficiently had roles not as spokesmen but as fighters.

"Basically our request for aid has been denied by them. According to them what is happening in Britain is an internal matter and they are not in a position to help," said Dumbledore with a sigh. "But what they are really saying is, after their first strike failed spectacularly they're unwilling to go to war risking the wrath of an enemy against whom even their most sophisticated weapons failed."

"That's ridiculous!" said Mr Austin. "An entire country has been taken over and they refuse to believe that it's their problem! What about Bulgaria, France and Spain! The high rates of deaths aren't enough to draw their concern!" he spat furiously.

The magical community in the West was infinitesimal to have to be brought to the attention of the muggle leaders and it had been quite a shock for them when Dumbledore had opened their eyes to a whole new world.

"Britain is all but lost," said Snape grimly. "We did our best to evacuate the countryside villages but sixty percent of the population has gone. The ministries that have fallen to Voldemort are preparing their forces and it won't be long before all of Europe is under the dark lord's command."

"What about the Russians?" asked Remus.

"And not to mention the Italians, the middle east, the Asian countries," added Mr Austin.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Amelia and Rufus are coordinating with them and they have mobilized their forces but just like the Americans and the other countries we've contacted they refuse to engage Voldemort. It's the same with pretty much every country we've contacted. The sudden loss of an entire country is playing havoc in all their backyards. Economic crisis, mass panic, mass suicides, the popular belief that Armageddon is upon them and to make matter worse tempers are running high in almost all the governments. If it weren't for our intervention the muggles would have started world war III. Unless we take the fight to Voldemort's doorstep he will come to theirs."

"We don't want to repeat the same mistakes as last time do we," muttered Remus and Dumbledore winced. They had been caught with their pants down because of their policy of gathering intelligence and then act instead of nipping the bud before it blossomed. But it wasn't like they could openly attack Voldemort under Fudge's regime. One could easily say this entire crisis all lay on his and his government's head.

"It won't be long before Beauxbaton is attacked. I'm sure Voldemort suspects us of hiding here," said Snape glumly.

"We need more men," said Mr. Cane, former advisor to the prime minster of Britain. "And weapons," he added.

"Are your ships and submarines still around the coast?" asked Granger.

"No," replied Cane. "Most are anchored in deep sea and any attempt to come close to the coast will result in annihilation by the Spanish and French Navy. Whatever ships we have left are those that were already in deep sea before that black fire consumed everything," he said bitterly. "Some managed to make it out but we lost everything, the ports, the air bases, the military stations, all in a matter of minutes. I don't have to remind you how devastating that day was."

 _That day_. . . . It weighed heavily in their minds. The terror the muggles had felt watching their kin being consumed by black flames, the horrible screams that echoed throughout the day and night, a river filled with bodies of men, women and children who were trying to escape.

A shudder ran down many spines in the room.

It had been almost a week into the sudden takeover by Voldemort and the surviving members of the British government together with the US had ordered a strike on London. But the missiles launched by the Submarines and Destroyers exploded way above the city and the jets which attempted to fly over the city and bomb it exploded in mid air without so much as a warning. Voldemort had erected some sort of barrier over parts of the island and even Dumbledore didn't know what to make of it.

"I would also love to order a nuclear strike but we have no way of knowing if it will work."

"Where are your men residing for now?" asked Minerva.

"Some of them have set camp on the aircraft carriers and the rest including the special forces are a few miles from here. I also don't need to remind you that many of my men and women are in our teams fighting those monsters."

Dumbledore smiled. "You don't. Those men have shown extreme courage in facing something they believed to exist only in fairy tales."

"If only it were so," grumbled Cane. He glanced at his watch and then stood up. "I'm off to the radio room. I need to update my new generals regarding the situation," he said in disgust. Truth to be told, he knew their military and naval forces was laughable right now. As of now they were just grand floating machines with hardly anyone to take command. His heart still clenched when he thought about the number of lives they had lost that day.

Dumbledore turned to elder Austin and Granger. "How are your daughters doing?" he asked.

"Mary's ready to kill someone soon," said Mr. Austin blandly. "She feels digging tunnels and making sure the fires don't burn out is a waste of talents and she hates me for not letting her fight."

Dan chuckled. "Hermione is just happy to do her bit and the rest of the kids are under Molly and Emma's control."

"She's also furious that Harry is allowed to go on missions and she's not," added Remus helpfully.

"Sirius has no issues with Harry fighting and I can't stop the boy from doing whatever he wants," said Dumbledore tiredly.

"You're one of the most powerful wizards in the world Monsieur Dumbledore," scoffed Mr Delacour. "Surely you could stop the boy!"

"Six months ago I tried," said the powerful wizard ruefully. "Six months ago Harry lost his temper and it was six months ago that boy bested me in a duel."

"No way!" gasped Remus and the rest of the room echoed their disbelief. This was news to them!

"Harry is too powerful to contain," he murmured. "Our duel was a close one but the variety of powers Harry controls is truly amazing. He is, in simple words a prodigy of magic."

Harry had pulled out every weapon in his arsenal to defeat Dumbledore. He didn't hide any of his powers like last time and at the end of it he had left Dumbledore utterly spellbound. Of course, it was the shock and surprise that led to his loss but he was not complaining. Harry had proved himself more than just capable and since then the man had not stopped Harry from participating in the war. He stopped treating Harry like the child he was supposed to be and began to treat him like a solider on the battlefield. It had hurt the old man to watch a boy only fourteen almost fifteen years old do things no one should do in their entire life time but he was past that now. Now he didn't even hesitate before putting Harry in the most dangerous of situations. In his eyes Harry was now the next Mad eye Moody, albeit several times more powerful.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **London**

Alastor Moody – age 45, Sirius Black – age 35, Mike Strong – age 27, Michele Stinger – age 26 and Harry Potter – age 14 years and 7 months. The five member team who had been tasked to find a way into London.

Strong and Stinger were part of the British intelligence and now they were fighting along side witches and wizards and things could not be more surreal for them.

One by one they slowly surfaced above the water after a high speed journey under water thanks to Harry's element and took a look around them.

They were surrounded by a lush forest with monstrous trees and all of them wondered whether they were in the right place or not. This could not be the London they had left could it? After all it was not long ago that the entire city had been set ablaze by fiendfyre.

"Co-ordinates confirm this is London," said Michele, "But I'm positive there was never a forest here."

"Do you sense anything Potter?" growled Moody.

Harry closed his eyes and spread his magic. He liked to call it his sensing power. "A lot of animals," he murmured, "but nothing human."

"Alright, Michele right flank, Sirius go left, Potter take the rear. Mike and I will take the front."

3 wands and two SMG's made their way out as they took the positions and began to move. In the team, Moody was the strategist, Michele was the medic, Mike was the weapons specialist, Sirius was there because of his skill in transfiguration and Harry was there because he was Harry Potter.

Mike and Michele were teaming up with the three for the second time and had on a number of occasions before departing for their mission voiced their disapproval of having a fourteen year old in the team. The previous mission they had been on was a search and rescue after a death eater raid in the Villages they had not managed to evacuate in Britain. They hadn't yet seen what the boy was capable of.

Harry on the other hand couldn't care less. His mind was focused on one thing and one thing alone, reducing the number of enemies and killing Voldemort. It truly pained Sirius to see Harry become like this but there was nothing he could do. Even then he kept doing his best to make Harry smile and see the positive side of life. He did not want his godson to get drowned in sea of blood and war.

"Stop!" whispered Harry suddenly.

"What is it?"

"People to our east. At least twenty."

"I'll go check it out," said Michele. Apart from being the medic, her talents lay in infiltration. There had never been a mission she had failed to accomplish in her five years working for the SIS."

Without making a sound she slinked away and the rest lay low, waiting for her return.

Five minutes later she returned, "A group of old men with long beards talking in some weird language," she said sounding a little unnerved. It was certainly not what she expected to see.

"Druids," muttered Moody. "Better to avoid them," he said and they continued their march through the forest until the finally reached its end and what they saw next took their breath away.

London had been transformed. There was absolutely nothing familiar about the city and words could not describe what they were seeing.

A few kilometers ahead of them stood a sea of mansions fit for the richest of people. Elegant was one of the few words that could be used to describe them. To the right of the colony they could see hundreds of stores, magical stores selling brooms, potions, pets, books, it was like Diagon Alley, only much, much bigger and way better. they could feel the magic emitting from the building and what took their breaths away was the castle in the distance. It was massive! Bathed in white and gold it stood out like a beacon of power and was floating high above the ground.

There was absolutely no sign that the city had been razed to the ground and oddly there was no sign of any wizards or witches too.

"Is this what Voldemort has done to London?" said Sirius incredulously. "I expected to see a lot worse!"

"It's not just wizards down there is it?" said Harry squinting. He then removed his omnioculars from his bag and scanned the city. "There goblins seem to constructing their own city a further away from the castle," he said. "I can see at least five structures similar to Gringotts and thousands of goblins milling around."

"Any signs of non magical people?" asked Mike.

"None," whispered Harry.

"Let's circle the perimeter and see what we can find," said Michele.

At Moody's signal, Harry disillusioned Michele and himself and removed his broom from his bag. Moody did the same to Mike.

"It felt like cold water rippling down my body," said Michele shuddering. Harry mounted the broom and pulled Michele climbed on behind him before Harry disillusioning the broom too.

They could see an distorted outline of each other and one by one they kicked off the ground. Moody was in the lead, followed by Sirius and Mike and then by Harry and Michele.

"Amazing," said Michele in awe. "Broom's that can fly!"

"This is just the tip of the iceberg Ms. Stinger," said Harry dryly. "I thought you would have done a little research before agreeing to join our team."

"If we have the time and resources I would have done so," she replied, raising her volume as Harry increased their speed. "But unfortunately the last time I saw our headquarters it was being burnt to ground in a black flame that was impossible to put out."

"How did you all escape?" Harry asked curiously.

"We had an underground escape route to the river," she said. "We took a boat and escaped to sea."

They lapsed into silence and continued their survey of this new London. So far it was just houses, several shopping streets and of course the floating castle that they could see clearly but as they flew further in more structures became visible and they began to fly towards them, while maintaining a distance from the castle. They didn't know what kind of security was there and they didn't have any intention of testing it.

"So who does a fourteen year old kid become part of a team like this?" asked Michele conversationally. The question had been bugging Mike and her and they hadn't actually found the time to interact with the wizards. They were simply ordered by Cane to join their team and learn.

"Power," said Harry simply. "I can wipe the floor with any wizard in our resistance."

Michele looked at him disbelievingly and even though Harry could not see her he knew what she was thinking.

"You don't have to believe me," he said coolly. "But if we get into a fight, just make sure to stay behind us."

"Land!" yelled Moody suddenly and immediately the riders dove towards the ground, following the silhouette of Moody.

"What happened?" asked Sirius once they had landed.

Moody just pulled out his own omnioculars and looked due east. Frowning Harry and Sirius removed theirs too and when the looked in the direction Moody was looking in their hearts skipped a beat.

"What do you see?" asked Mike.

Sirius wordlessly handed the man the omnioculars and Mike felt a little nauseous when he took a look through them.

Hundreds of people were bunched together like a herd of sheep and there were at most a dozen mountain trolls standing guard around them. They were definitely non magical and what made the infiltrators feel sick was the dozens of mutilated corpses lying around them. Most of them seemed to have their heads bashed in for trying to escape and others seemed to have been crushed under the feet of the trolls.

It was a horrible scene.

The prisoners had almost nothing to cover themselves and it wasn't just adults. From what they could see there were children who barely looked older than the age of ten sobbing as the trolls crushed another poor soul who tried to run.

Harry's blood started to freeze and he wanted nothing more than to return the favour to those trolls.

"Calm down Harry," said Sirius noticing Harry stiffening and placed his hand on his godson's shoulder and winced at how cold his body was.

Moody however was shoving the omnioculars back in his bag and commanded them to get back in the air.

"Aren't we supposed to do something about them sir?" protested Michele immediately. "We can't just leave them there!"

"Let's finish what we came here to do and then see if we're in a position to help these people," said Moody gruffly. But even they could see that the hardened Auror was barely controlling his desire to help the muggles.

They continued their journey flying over several camps where muggles were being held before they came across something even worse.

A single black tower could be seen and around it an army and worse, it wasn't an army of death eaters.

"Please don't tell me those are inferi," groaned Sirius.

"Zombies," said Harry responding to Mike and Michele's questioning look and their expressions then changed to horror.

"Not just inferi," said Moody grimly. "Freshly turned vampires too."

Harry quickly pulled out his omnioculars and focused on the handlers. They were pale, dressed immaculately and had red eyes. "Looks like the older vampires are controlling them," said Harry in a low voice. "We cannot go further or we risk exposure."

"I thought vampires couldn't stand daylight?" asked Michele confused.

"Who said that?" asked Sirius mystified. There was very little known about the vampires even in the wizarding world but what was known was the sheer strength the blood sucking creatures possessed.

Michele looked like she wanted to argue but then thought against it. Instead she began recounting every fairy tale she had heard her entire life and began making a list of the things she should expect to see in this new world and war that she found herself thrown into.

"We can't go any further," said Moody quietly. "Those vampires might sense us and we _do not_ want to get into a fight with vampires under prepared."

Everybody silently agreed with Moody. Vampires could not be handled without proper back up.

"Is it weird that we haven't seen any wizards around yet?" asked Harry. "I would have figured at least a few of them would be overseeing the prisoners and this army."

"They must be in the castle," said Mike but he didn't sound to sure. He had decided against saying anything until his mind had processed everything abnormal about magic.

"What do we do about the prisoners?" asked Harry.

"Nothing," said Moody. "We turn back for now. If we are discovered we will be at an overwhelming disadvantage and I can bet you a thousand galleons we haven't even see a quarter of Voldemort's armies. Merlin only knows what other magical creatures he has managed to sway to his side."

Reluctantly they turned back and mounted their brooms and Harry couldn't help but notice they had hardly travelled a few miles in and they had already seen this much. A slight shiver ran down his back as he wondered what else they would come across if they explored further.

"Can anyone hear that?" asked Mike suddenly. Moody and Sirius frowned but when they strained their ears they heard it too.

"It sounds like cheering," said Harry in confusion.

Sirius refocused his omnioculars in the direction they thought the noise was coming from and looked around for a source. He kept looking and increasing the range of the omnioculars when he suddenly spotted a structure in the distance which looked like a stadium.

"Due nine 'o' clock," he said. "There seems to be a stadium there."

"Do we check it out?" asked Harry. "Seems like something big is going on."

"We better keep our distance and use the omnioculars to watch. Tom could be there and we definitely don't want to have a confrontation with him," said the scarred man.

Once again after disillusioning themselves they took to the air heading straight the stadium. A uneasy feeling began to worm its way into Harry's gut as they got closer and closer. Something big was going to happen.

"This is far enough!" shouted Moody. "Halt!"

Harry brought his broom to a screeching halt in mid air and Michele grunted as she fell forward.

"Sorry about that," he said apologetically and handed her the magical binoculars.

"So what's going on?" he asked. Even without the omnioculars he could make out hundreds of witches and wizards in the stands standing and cheering. The stadium itself looked magnificent. Four huge statues stood at each corner of the stadium each holding a different magical item. There was a fierce looking man holding a wand, a woman holding a silver staff and adjecent to her was a man wearing a hood with a scythe and lastly another woman but she was curiously wearing a tiara and there seemed to be something written on her eyes.

"It's an execution," whispered Michele and handed Harry the omnioculars.

She was right. Five acromantula were crawling around the stadium slowly surrounding two chained figures in the center of the stadium and the roar of the crowd kept increasing as the beasts came closer and closer.

The two figures were armed with their wands and were firing a plethora of weak spells at the oncoming giant spiders but it was of no use. The giant man eating spiders kept advancing on them and when Harry got a look at the faces of the figures his heart came to a stand still.

It was Blaise and Draco.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Beauxbatons**

Lillian was exhausted.

The fire elemental had spent the last couple of hours helping the newly rescued muggles settle into their camp which seemed to grow larger and larger as the days went by. She had several responsibilities and one of them was to keep the refuges warm. The fire elemental was finding it hard pressed to resist the urge to throw a ball of fire at her dad for making her do this instead of letting her use her talents elsewhere.

She would spend a part of her day comforting traumatized children and helping them understand why this was happening to them. It wasn't like she hated what she was doing and she really felt terrible for the children that had to go through this. It was just that she hated the feeling of being considered useless when she clearly wasn't.

Another one of her jobs was to maintain the peace in the camp. When the muggles had gotten over their trauma there had been a lot of anger towards the magical folk and there were instances of violence breaking out between the two kinds of humans. Her job was to contain such situations and all she had to do was appear there bouncing fire balls in her palms with a dangerous look in her eye. She was the perfect image of an ill tempered pyromaniac teenager and after a demonstration of her powers the anger had evaporated quite fast. Of course that had been quite a few months ago and now she was known as the fire girl who could keep them warm during the cold. Secretly she had been most disappointed that the muggles and witches were now getting along with each other.

Right now she was in the wash room of the school washing her face after distributing blankets and conjuring fires for the families out in the fields and she was absolutely spent.

She scowled when a group of giggling school girls entered the wash room chattering away in French. God, how she wanted to just set them on fire and show them the meaning of pain.

Huffing she left the room and went to find Hermione. She hated being in the presence of those bimbo's for more than a few seconds. What made her blood boil was their superiority complex and the fact that their lives pretty much revolved around cute guys and expensive clothes.

The whole school had such an air of wealth and luxury that it made her sick to her stomach. She walked another group of students and a few girls who noticed her turned their noses up after looking at her attire. Lillian growled and they squeaked and hurried past her.

A few days back she had gotten into big trouble for smashing a boys nose who had hit on her and then called her insulted her when she told him to bugger off. Her dad had been proud of her but the rest of the adults and reprimanded her for unnecessarily picked a fight and had asked her to apologize. She told them to bugger off too.

"Mary!" exclaimed Ron when she entered their common room of sorts. Her eyes scanned the room crowded room and found a lot of her school mates gathered around. Those who had been fortunate enough not to be in London on _that day_ had been found and brought to Beauxbatons.

"Hey Ron," she said tiredly. "Where Hermione?"

"Library," he said with a grin. "As soon as we finished our jobs she was off."

There had been an option presented to her by her father. Either she helped Mrs Weasley and Mrs Granger in the kitchens or she could help the others by taking care of the non magical population by helping them settle in.

Every one under the age of seventeen had rather quickly chosen to help the mothers taking the easy way out but she was the only one who did not, much to their surprise. Why didn't they understand that she wanted to do something worthwhile!

"Why is she in the library?" asked Lillian bewildered.

"She studying," said Ron dryly. "She doesn't want to miss out on her education. Honestly that girl has got a few loose screws in her brain!"

When Lillian was not busy she was training her element to become stronger and stronger. She was not going to let the knowledge she had learnt with the Flamel's go to waste.

"Oh well, that's just her way of dealing with the situation I guess," said Lillian dismissively. Hermione was her friend but she felt that that girl needed to rearrange her priorities. While she was off doing her own training, Ron and many of the boys had requested Remus how to defend themselves and Hermione was the only one who wanted to continue studying.

What good was being knowledgeable when faced with immeasurable fire power, she thought with a scoff. They would be crushed is what would happen, but many of the order members felt it was a good thing. Hermione had become their researcher of sorts and she was loving it.

A burst of giggling came from the fireplace and Lillian scowled. Lavender and Parvati were enjoying living in the school. The attention they got from the boys was like a dream come true and it was the same for many of the boys too. There were more than twice the number of girls here as compared to Hogwarts and almost all of them had a jaw dropping quality about them.

"Mary," called out Ron hesitantly. "Are you alright?"

"No I'm not bloody alright," she said irritably and then stormed out of the room. She needed to let out some steam.

Huh," muttered Ron and turned back to his Irish friend. "Checkmate!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Magical London**

The temperature in the air dropped and Sirius looked at Harry warningly. "It's suicide Harry. There's hundreds of capable wizards there and not to mention the dark lord himself. What we need to do is get the hell away from here!"

Moody had spotted the dark lord surrounded by a group of his top lieutenant's in the VIP stand and immediately he had calle for their return to base but Harry hadn't moved.

"Harry!" hissed Sirius, "Are you listening!"

"They are my friends," said Harry quietly, "And imagine the intel Draco could have about the enemy. Moody, make me a portkey to the River. The rest of you go and find some muggles to rescue. Save as many as you can and I'll meet you at the River."

The acromantula were closing in.

Harry quickly removed the disillusionment charm on himself and with a small wave of his wand he turned his hair colour to dirty blonde and eyes to blue. Another flick of his wand and Michele was transferred from his broom to Moody's with a gasp of fear from the woman her sudden involuntary moment hundreds of feet above the ground.

Moody knew there was no stopping the boy and even though every fibre of his body was screaming at him to stop Harry he didn't. He removed a long rope from his bag, turned it into a portkey after focusing on the location it needed to go to and handed it to Harry.

"Let's go," he barked and they turned back while Harry angled his broom towards the stadium and accelerated.

Suddenly the situation had become intense and with hardened hearts they left Harry praying for his safety. Sirius had tears in his eyes but even he knew there was nothing he could do but focus on his task. His hands gripped the broom tightly as they flew towards the closest camp of the muggle prisoners.

Inside the stadium the crowd roared as one of the boys fell to the ground as one of the massive pincers grazed his shoulder. The emperor on the other hand just looked on with a cruel smile on his face as he controlled the movements of the acromantula. It wouldn't be entertainment if the show was over too fast would it. To his left sat Lucius Malfoy who looked on with a sense of detachment and his wife had tears streaming down her face. Why did Draco have to defy the emperor, was the thought running through their minds. When had their son developed a moral index worthy of a Gryffindor!

To Voldemort's right sat a deadly ally; The king of the vampires who was simply called The Count and he sat looking on with amusement. The vampires had allied with Voldemort only because he managed to conquer an entire country. The other reason was the elder vampires were bored and joining Voldemort sounded like a good idea. Suddenly the ancient vampire frowned as he felt something he hadn't felt for centuries.

The presence of an elemental.

The ground shuddered violently as five massive hammers made of ice slammed into the acromantula and a figure riding a broom landed between the two boys.

Silence engulfed the stadium and The Count narrowed his eyes thinking why wasn't he made aware of an elemental being born into the world once more. How had the thing stayed hidden from his sight!

All such thoughts vanished from his mind when the blocks of ice began to rotate, gaining speed before they exploded with a boom outwards sending millions of shards into the crowd and towards them.

Beside him the emperors wand blurred and a shield enveloped the entire stadium protecting them. The sheer amount of power that Voldemort wielded amazed him once more.

When the barrage of ice stopped and the mist formed cleared the elemental and the two prisoners had vanished. The Count turned towards Voldemort and found the man's eyes to be contemplative.

"Can you find them?" he asked quietly ignoring the muttering that had broken out among the crowd. Behind him the two Malfoy's were staring at the spot their son had just vanished with mixed feelings. Fear, if the emperor going to punish them and joy for their son had escaped with his life intact!

The Vampire king turned to his aide and looked at him questioningly.

"We have their scent sire. We can try to catch it and find them."

"Find them but do not kill them," said Voldemort. "If you can capture them otherwise let them escape."

The vampire nodded and immediately blurred out of sight.

"Let them escape?" asked The Count curiously. What was the emperor thinking?

"They obviously found a way through my barrier and if they escape we can lay a trap for them the next time they infiltrate us. ," he said with a dark smile. "That person who just rescued those insignificant specks of dirt was the silver eyed demon as my followers call him."

"He is an elemental," said vampire. "You can leave him to us to find and kill."

"I want him alive," said Voldemort calmly. "His power is too rare to send to the afterlife and I want it."

The Count bowed, "Leave it to us," he said and with a swish of his cloak he left. They now had an elemental to find.


	47. Part 2 - Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Armageddon**

Lord Voldemort surveyed the scene before him with a critical eye. Two vampires, head separated cleanly from their bodies, lay in front of him and there was no sign of their quarry. His eyes tracked the path of the blood pooling beneath the two creatures as it slowly spilled into the river a few feet away.

So that's how they slipped past his net, he mused. The river.

A sudden gust of wind alerted him to the presence of the Count. "I see they escaped," noted the vampire king, barely sparing a glance at his slain brethren.

"It matters not," Voldemort said.

"And what of the," the Count paused as a smirk grew on his face, "The sliver eyed demon."

"Gone."

"He was strong," said the Count. "It has been nearly a century since I last had the misfortune of meeting an elemental."

Voldemort didn't say anything so the Count continued.

"She had the power to control the wind," he said. "She killed nearly five hundred of my kind before she was cut down like the beast she was."

Voldemort's eyebrows rose at that. Killing five hundred vampires was no easy task, even for him. "Why?" he asked. Texts on elementals were rare but he had never heard about there being an enmity between vampires and elementals.

"They are an aberration," he said darkly. "They are not meant to exist in this world and we have made it our duty to erase them from this planet."

Voldemort raised his eyebrows. "And are you any different?" he asked idly. "Many in this world treat your kind the same way."

"Do you know anything about elementals Voldemort," The Count asked derisively.

Voldemort resisted the impulse to snap his neck for that tone but after years of practising occlumency his expression was perfectly mild. "Unfortunately I do not."

"Being an elemental can turn the most docile person in this world into a blood thirsty killer," he said grimly. "It is in their nature to turn violent and no matter how hard they suppress that intent, it always spills out at one point in their lives. That is the reason an elemental will eventually end up seeking solitude."

"Are you and I any different?" Voldemort asked.

"We do not possess the power that they wield," he said seriously. "It matter not how powerful you are My Lord, a well-trained elemental will always hold an edge over you."

"What about this one," Voldemort asked, referring to Harry.

"He hasn't come into maturity yet and it takes a long time for an elemental to reach its maturity. Take heed to my warning Voldemort, if you ever encounter this _silver eyed demon._ Don't mince words with it and just kill it."

Voldemort didn't press the matter. No matter what this vampire said, he had confidence in his abilities and he looked forward to meeting this creature that the vampire was so afraid of. They were interrupted when by a loud crack and Lucius Malfoy made his presence known.

"My Lord," he said, bowing deeply to both men.

"What is it Lucius?"

"The infiltrator was not alone. One of the prison camps was attacked and the muggles held have escaped. There were also a series of explosions in the breeding grounds and we lost fifty soldiers."

Voldemort didn't bat an eyelid at the news and instead he dwelled into the mind of his subordinate and his lips curled at what he found. "Are you happy Lucius?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"My Lord?" Lucius said hesitantly.

"Your son," elaborated Voldemort, "He escaped," he said.

Lucius stilled.

"My happiness is tied to your own my Lord," Lucius replied averting his eyes. "My son's fate is punishment for my failure and I accept it wholeheartedly."

Voldemort smirked. "Such loyalty," he crooned stroking Lucius's cheek and the Malfoy resisted the urge to flinch. "And you shall be rewarded justly."

"Thank you my Lord."

"I want you to go back to your station and be ready for the package. We are ready."

Lucius's pulse quickened. It was finally time and he couldn't help but feel a little afraid. He prayed to whatever god there was that his son was safe and far away from danger.

"Don't be troubled my friend," Voldemort said chuckling. "Nobody can stop us now. Now go. Go and play your role to perfection."

"My Lord," Lucius acknowledged and bowed once more before disapparating.

The Count turned to Voldemort. "I didn't think you'd actually go through with this plan," he said.

"I don't make plans I don't intend to carry out," Voldemort said coldly. "The broadcast shall soon be sent out and we will give them the appropriate time to respond."

"Well it will certainly be a task for you to repopulate this earth," the vampire said chuckling.

"Indeed," replied Voldemort. The world needed to be purged before a new age began.

The Count looked at his surroundings. What was once a city of magnificence was turned into a barren wasteland and now it was the perfect home to magical folk and creatures alike, trees, birds, water, it all seemed so peaceful. But for the rest of the world everything was about to change. He had lived for many centuries and for the first time in a long time he felt his heart race with excitement.

Yes, the world was going to change.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

 ** _One week later_**

The throne room, dim and large, was currently host to Lord Voldemort and his most trusted death eaters. A few candles were lit, bathing the occupants with enough light to know they were there. If they looked hard enough, they could make out the chandeliers floating high above them. Voldemort sat in his high throne watching his death eaters seated in an arc before him. Once upon a time they used to kneel before him with the stench of fear in the air. Now they knelt out of loyalty and the desire to serve him but the fear was still there. He was glad the fear was still there since a little bit of fear ensured a far more loyal service.

"Have the past months been kind to you," he asked, trying to inject some warmth into his voice. It was important to maintain that little amount of connection and bond that he found incredibly ridiculous. He spoke as warmly as a dark lord could get.

"It has been like a dream My Lord," murmured Goyle. "We have dreamt of such a world for so long and to see fantasy transcend into reality is miraculous."

Everyone muttered their agreement.

Voldemort smirked. "Today is another historic day for our kind," he said, rising from his throne. "It has been a long time since we first embarked on this journey to fulfil our dreams and rise up from the cruel shadows of our weaker kin."

Voldemort eyes burned with passion and his voice was igniting a fire within his men like it always did. "We have created a magical London that we can be proud of!" he shouted and his death eaters cheered.

"We have gotten rid of those muggle loving scum and the muggles of this country are no more!"

More cheering followed.

"The world is at our doorstep my friends. The wizarding world has been conquered now it is time for the world to be purged of the unworthy," Voldemort said, his voice dropping down to a whisper. "Dumbledore and his friends run around trying to gather their allies and try to find out our plans but they haven't had any success."

Voldemort chuckled at their misfortune. His spies at different corners of the world had informed him of the efforts of the rebellion and it amused him to no end that the muggles still chose to ignore them. "They wiggle around like headless flobberworms trying to stop our insignificant attacks on the muggles but they have no idea that those attacks mean nothing!"

The death eaters laughed nastily.

"The muggles think that we will leave them alone if they do not attack us and they have no idea how wrong they are."

"Destroy them all!" Bellatrix Lestrange screamed manically. Her eyes wreathed in madness.

"We will my dear Bella," Voldemort said reaching up to his most insane lieutenant and gently lift her chin to look into her eyes. The madness in her eyes always sent shiver of pleasure through his body. "We will."

"The muggles think that their weapons will be sufficient to stop us but they have no idea how wrong they are. As we speak some of our brothers and sisters are setting up the final stages of our grand plan and a few hours from now," Voldemort paused for a moment letting his death eaters feel the intensity of his words.

"What will happen my Lord!?" shouted Fenir Greyback.

Voldemort smiled darkly. "War," he hissed and the death eaters exploded. "Go now! May this night be filled with pleasure and satisfaction. Let us celebrate this night before the purge," he shouted and clapped his hands. Immediately the room was filled with light and its grandeur made visible. Crystal, gold, silver, and materials of great value adorned the room. Two long tables were lined up against opposite walls and were covered with a single emerald green cloth with a silver lining. The entire room was a shining visage of royalty.

A gong signalled the start of the ball and slowly wizards and witches began to trickle inside. None had been afraid to wear the best the magical world had to offer and Voldemort smiled as each one of them first came and bowed to him before heading off to enjoy the first ball since the creation of this empire. It was necessary to have such events no matter how lowly he thought of them. These people who called themselves nobles desired for such events and he had to keep them happy for a while. He himself was dressed in black robes crafted from acromantula silk. The Slytherin crest was stitched with gold threads on the hem and cuffs of his robes and was looped together with the dark mark which threaded with silver.

Voldemort sat back on his throne as his mind flashed to the past remembering the long journey of his life. Memories of the pain, torture, frustrations and insanity that he had endured to finally reach this grand stage. The years he had spent travelling, learning, and discovering arcane magic after leaving Hogwarts; his rise to prominence as a dark lord and then his defeat at the hands of a toddler. An insignificant toddler with nothing special about it, but that was not important. He would deal with Harry Potter when the time would come and show the world that his defeat all those years ago meant nothing.

He smirked as he remembered the chaos he caused soon after his resurrection although it was nothing compared to the chaos he had caused now. The power he had wielded was intoxicating and he would have held on to that power if it hadn't come along with the cost of losing his body and soul to a creature from the past.

A shiver of fear ran down his back as he remembered that dark time in his life. He had been consumed by insanity; his mind was almost lovingly being controlled by a voice he had no control over and he was just one poke away from losing himself forever. It was only because of his will to dominate that he survived.

It had taken him months to focus deeply enough to ignore the voice of evil and find its source and when he did he had felt terror, true undisguised terror that he had never known before. All his anger and hatred at the treatment he had received at the hands of the boys at the orphanage, the ridicule he had to bear with when he was sorted to Slytherin, it all just evaporated at the sight of that… _that thing._

A mass of black smoke eating away at his magical core with every dark spell he cast. A faceless monster slowly taking his body for itself while he revelled in the power it gave him, a monster which made his world tremble with its voice alone. He had tried to fight it, to stop it but when it looked at him his body felt paralyzed. This, he realized, this was the true face of the dark arts. His will was crumbling right before his eyes and he knew all the creature had to do was say the words and he would have surrendered.

But no, deep within his soul, a part that was still untainted by the darkness awoke. It was because of that he found the strength to do what needed to be done and for twenty seven days and twenty six nights he fought the creature and endured. He could not use dark magic for now he understood the price of using that magic. His body was ripped to shreds every time he attacked and then it was remade. Over and over he suffered agonizing pain and defeat but he didn't give in and day by day his power, his true power kept rising. It was more of a mental battle rather than a physical battle but finally Voldemort emerged triumphant and a man remade. He managed to trap the creature inside his core and stop its rabid growth but it came with a devastating cost. He had to sacrifice his beloved horcruxes and could never use dark magic unless he wished for that monster to break free from the bonds he had placed on it.

But with the sacrifice he made, he had gained knowledge. Knowledge about the creation of the dark arts and its true nature, knowledge of the past heard from the mouth of darkness itself and the real story of the deathly hallows. But most importantly Voldemort regained his sanity and he remembered the dream he had when he first left Hogwarts.

Now that dream was turning into reality and there was no one to stop it. His empire had its capital and now it needed to expand. Dumbledore's resistance was anything but a resistance. War was coming and there was nobody to stop it.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

 ** _Beauxbaton_**

A boat appeared some dozen feet above the ground and with a resounding sound, it crashed into the ground sending its occupants tumbling into the dirt. Sea water was dripping from the boat and for a moment there was complete silence except for the sound of water hitting the ground. The silence was shattered when a girl, no older than fifteen burst into tears sending Moody and his team into action. They shepherded the muggles outside quickly began to conjure thick blankets to lend them some warmth. People from the main camp noticed their arrival and started running towards them, no doubt to lend a hand.

"Let's get you two to the medical wing," Harry muttered pulling Blaise and Draco to their feet. He was unscathed except for the little bit of dust on his clothes.

"Harry," Blaise croaked. His voice was thick with emotion and he just couldn't find any words to say. He had been ready to die and to be rescued, that too by his best friend, had left him in a near catatonic state. Both Blaise and Draco looked terrible.

"Save it for later Blaise," Harry said sharply. "Let's get you and Draco checked out first. If those acromantula were poisonous then you're going to be convulsing on the floor soon.

"I expect to see you at headquarters in an hour's time with those two Potter," barked Moody, his magical eye keeping track of Harry while he none too gently gift wrapped a frightened man in a blanket.

Harry nodded and guided his two friends to the school and as they passed through the hundreds of tents set up Harry responded to their questioning looks.

"After Voldemort," he ignored the gasps of fear, "decided to engulf half of the country in fiendfyre and lay waste to the country side, most of us escaped and took refuge in Beauxbaton," he said. "Many of the people here are the muggles we rescued after the dragon attack."

"To take refuge from the French," Draco muttered in disgust. "Show's how badly beaten you all are."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You better watch that tongue here Draco," Harry said idly, "You're one of us now and you'd do well if you acted that way. Else you're most welcome to head back into the den of acromantula."

Draco winced and continued walking without saying another word.

"Is the school still on?" Blaise asked in disbelief. How could a school still be running normally when a whole country had been destroyed and they could very well be next!

"The French ministry is keen on making things run as normally as possible. They are the ones who have been left alone and one does wonder why that is," Harry said.

Draco scoffed. "He has left them alone because he knows you will take shelter here. He knows exactly where you are and with the army he has created it wouldn't take much of an effort to destroy you when the time comes."

Harry smiled, their hypothesis of the situation was spot on but the sad thing was it showed the level of confidence and arrogance Voldemort was displaying. To dismiss their resistance as nothing more than a bothersome pest was worrisome. "That was pretty much the same conclusion we came to," he said. "But save your ranting for later Draco. All of us want to hear exactly what it is you think and know about our enemy. _And_ why is it that the son of Voldemort's right hand was left to die like a rabid dog."

Draco's blood began to boil and he felt a rush of anger directed both at Harry and the man he once called father. Emotionally he was a mess.

"Here we are," announced Harry and directed the two boys to the sit on a separate bed. "Madam Tuscon will be along shortly," he said. "Play nice and list out all your injuries, even though they seem pretty much non-existent."

"The cruciatus does not show up physically Potter," Draco spat angrily. How dare Potter look down upon him, he thought furiously.

Harry shrugged. "I'll be back in twenty minutes and then we shall go to the HQ."

"You have a headquarters," Draco snorted, "A big help that's going to be when the dark lord comes for you."

Harry was saved from a response when Blaise punched Draco in the jaw. "He saved our lives," Blaise said coldly. "The least you could do is show a little gratitude instead of being the wise arse that you are."

Draco glared at Blaise from his position on the floor. "How dare you," he began but Harry nonchalantly pointed his wand and sent a nonverbal silencio at the blond.

"Stay quiet and wait," he said firmly. "I'll be back soon," he said and left the room leaving the two the mercy of the mediwitch. He would have preferred them to be looked at by Pomfrey but they first had to be checked for any tracking charms before they could be moved to the headquarters.

Half an hour later Madam Tuscon had healed the scratches and bruises they had and given them both a potion to deal with the after effects of the cruciatus.

The mediwitch gave a slight nod to Harry indicating they were clean and he led them to a fire place and gave them a slip of paper to read.

"The Resistance can be found at the Valley of Souls," Blaise said out loud.

Draco frowned in confusion but he didn't have time to voice his questions as he pushed headfirst into the fire place. Blaise followed and Harry somehow managed to squeeze in.

He threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace and green flames flared from the previously unlit fireplace. "The resistance," he said softly and the three were whisked away in swirl of purple flames.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Where are we?" Blaise asked as he followed Harry through a narrow stone walled corridor. Each step they took echoed around them and the path they were on had a very intimidating aura about it.

"Below the Pyramid of the Witch Queen Nefertiti," Harry said.

"And you feel so comfortable announcing that fact to me," Draco said. "I am not on your side if you remember Potter."

"You couldn't speak about this place and betray our location even if you tried Draco," Harry said rolling his eyes. "And you're no longer our enemy. If I remember correctly, the _enemy_ ," he said stressing on the word enemy, "left you to die at hands of vicious gigantic spiders while your father watched on. If you think you can return to them with information on us and still escape death _or worse_ then you are sorely misguided."

"The dark lord has changed Potter," Draco said quietly. "He is both forgiving and vicious but loyalty is always rewarded."

"Well thanks for letting us know that," Harry said coldly. "We'll make sure to treat you like death eater trash and then perhaps some sense might be knocked into that thick head of yours."

They soon reached a dead end with a phoenix engraved on the wall. Harry drew his wand and made a small cut on his thumb before smearing the blood on the mouth of the phoenix.

Blaise and Draco watched in fascination as the fiery bird silently started flapping its wings and the wall slowly dissolved in front of their eyes.

"Welcome to our headquarters," Harry said beckoning them inside.

The room they had entered was large and the lack of windows was very noticeable. It was illuminated by several fires, that were running in a depression in the floor all over the room and there were torch brackets lined up all along the walls. Cosy armchairs and loveseats populated the room. A few people were resting there and all of them focused their eyes on the party of three as they crossed the room. Some of them recognized Draco and a slight scowl marred their features.

"A lounge room of sorts," explained Harry as he led them to another door. Inside there were people waiting, Dumbledore being the most recognizable figure.

"Mr Malfoy, Mr Zabini," Dumbledore said kindly, "I am very glad to see you alive and well."

Draco sneered at him while Blaise just smiled back tiredly.

The room was simple similar to the one they had just crossed except that it was smaller and darker.

Harry went and took his place next to Sirius.

Dumbledore conjured two wooden chairs and politely asked the two teenagers to sit.

"I'm not co-operating," Draco announced arrogantly.

"You'll talk one way or another son," growled Moody. "Be it with your free will or a nifty serum which will make you spill the truth."

Draco paled when he saw the war hardened auror. He had heard many tales about the exploits of this auror from the death eaters that were capable of holding a decent conversation.

"Draco was sentenced to death because of his father," Blaise said and Draco shot him a dangerous look. Blaise ignored him and continued. "His father was charged with the safe keeping of an item of the dark lord but it was destroyed and as punishment for his failure Draco had to pay the price."

Silence dominated the room as everyone absorbed Blaise's words.

"What about you," Kingsley asked. "Why were you in that arena with," he sneered at Draco, "with this Malfoy."

Blaise took a shaky breath in. It was obvious that the memory was not a pleasant one. "The dark lord began his attack long before you even realized it," he said. "Before the dragon attacks it had already been a month since his death eaters infiltrated and systematically took over more than half the ministries in the world. The interview he gave for the Daily Prophet went a long way in boosting his man power. He also began to contact and extend an invitation to every pureblood family that existed outside Britain to join him in his quest to conquer the wizarding world. It was a subtle way of saying, join me and live royally or die as my enemy." It seemed like a very simple choice to most.

Blaise closed his eyes as memories assaulted his mind.

"Are you alright?" asked a concerned Molly.

"Fine," grunted Blaise. "You all know what kind of a human my mother is and the allure of what the dark lord was offering was too much for her to refuse. Riches and royalty were the two words that were enough to convince her. My latest father tried to change her mind but the very next day he had an unfortunate accident. I tried to send a message to Harry, to warn him because I knew the message would undoubtedly find its way to you, headmaster and maybe you could stop Voldemort. But I could not and was caught. I was given the option of serving the dark lord or dying and I don't know what overcame me but I told them to bugger off."

Harry snorted and Blaise smiled at him shakily. "I'll admit it was the most foolish decision I've ever made in my life."

"Glad to see that I had some influence over you," Harry said grinning. "I'm glad I was able to save you Blaise."

"You should have accepted," spat Draco. "Few are given the honour of serving the dark lord and you should have accepted!"

"What do you know about the dark lord's plans," interjected Snape and Draco's eyes widened as the saw his former potions master. "Professor Snape!" he gasped. "You're one of them!?"

"Answer the question Draco," Snape said emotionlessly.

Draco just smirked and kept his mouth shut.

"Enough of this," barked Sirius. He stood up and withdrew a vial from his pocket.

"Sirius," cautioned Dumbledore but Harry's godfather ignored him.

"Open up you little shit," he said and when Draco refused he backhanded him. The blond cried out in pain and Sirius quickly grabbed his jaws in an iron grip and dropped three drops of veritaserum on his tongue.

Not one person moved to stop Sirius. Some of them were even envious that he got to smack that little monster.

"State your name," Kingsley commanded.

"Draco Abraxas Malfoy," he intoned dully as his eyes turned white.

"Why were you sentenced to death?"

"Punishment for my father's mistakes."

"Are you loyal to Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked.

"I don't know," was Malfoy's response and whispers broke out in the room. It turns out young Malfoy was not as loyal as he wanted to be.

"What do you know about the dark lord's plans?"

"Nothing," was the dull reply and the hopeful atmosphere that was building crumbled like a deck of exploding cards.

"What do you know about Voldemort's allies and spies?" Dumbledore asked.

"The dark lord has allied himself with the goblins and vampires. The giants refused to aid him and they were annihilated. The dark lord has reached out the druid clans and offered them sanctuary in forest of London. He has spies in every muggle government and is slowly manipulating their moments."

"Who are the spies," asked Dumbledore. This was troublesome news to him. They had thoroughly examined every major government and found nothing. To know that death eaters were still able to slip past their nets was terrible news.

"I don't know," replied Draco.

"Has Voldemort planned any big event?" asked Cane.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

"What do you know!" asked Mr Austin in frustration.

"I know many things," was the cocky reply.

The veritaserum was wearing off.

"Where are the nuclear weapons?" Cane asked in a last ditch attempt get some answers.

"Hidden."

"In Britain?" asked Arthur but the truth serum had worn of and Draco blinked rapidly as his mind became unclouded and his eyes returned to normal.

"How dare you," he began hotly but fell silent as a stunner from Moody struck him.

"Dumbledore, they are still getting death eaters past our net," Kingsley said worriedly.

"Our governments are not like yours," Cane said. "We have thousands of employees and it would be impossible to track every one of them. Voldemort must have a low level agent on the inside."

"What purpose would that serve?" asked Diggle.

Harry always thought that Diggle was an idiot. That statement just strengthened his belief of it.

"He obviously has some agenda that he has to carry out when the time comes," Harry said rolling his eyes.

Many members nodded in agreement. The sight of Harry Potter sitting in order meetings had become a common one. At first they had been completely against him joining regardless of his power but then they could not force him out and in the end it was because of his power that he was now a part of their war room.

"To make matters worse, countries like the US and Russia have refuted our repeated requests to join hands with them and it is even more difficult to monitor their employees openly," Dumbledore said grimly.

"So what now?" asked Jones worriedly. " _You know who_ is planning something big, we all know that. He has been distracting us with attacks all over Europe and we have next to no clue what he is going to do next!"

"We must continue our efforts to save lives," Dumbledore said calmly.

"But to what end!?" Hestia said, her voice rising. "We have been fighting for months now and we are next to nowhere when it comes to stopping him!"

"This is a war lass," growled Moody. "And our side is the losing side. The only thing we can do is endure."

Hestia huffed and crossed her arms, "You, Potter and Sirius infiltrated London," she said. "Potter has shown us what he's capable of so why didn't you end him?" she asked, directing her question at Harry.

"Have you not been paying attention Hestia!" shouted Sirius. "Voldemort has an army! An army made of vampires, goblins, werewolves and all manner of dark creatures! These creatures are backed up by an army of death eaters who are not helpless by a long shot!"

This was not the first time someone had insinuated that it was Harry's responsibility to take out Voldemort since he had done it as a baby. Just because Harry was powerful did not mean that it was his burden to take on Voldemort. It pissed him off every time someone suggested that and it pissed him off even more that Harry had readily accepted that role.

"Simmer down Sirius," Dumbledore said sharply. They didn't need a reminder of the army they were up against and it didn't help the morale of their band of fighters one bit.

Sirius growled at Hestia who glared back fiercely. All the fighting and killing was beginning to take a toll on her and everybody else. It was difficult to keep the morale up when all your efforts went waste and people kept dying around you.

"Did we get anything out of the werewolves we captured in Berlin?" asked Tonks.

"They know nothing," Moody said angrily.

"Did you use veritaserum?"

"No need to waste our truth potions when silver works so well," he said, his lips curling nastily.

Remus shuddered. He was all too familiar with the effect silver had on a werewolf and he wished they needn't have to that to a werewolf but this was war.

Dumbledore sighed. They simply didn't have the numbers to fight Voldemort and if the muggles kept having illusions of being capable of combating magic with their weapons then … … Dumbledore didn't want to complete that thought.

All this while Blaise looked on bemused, as the wizards and witches began to argue amongst themselves. Had they completely forgotten about him? His noticed Dumbledore's eyes on him and he felt a little relaxed when the headmaster smiled.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and immediately all the chatter came to a full stop. He shook his arm slightly and his wand slipped into his hand. "I'm sorry Mr Zabini," he said kindly, "But I think my friends have forgotten that we have a child in our presence."

Blaise's eyes widened as Dumbledore pointed his wand at him and whispered a spell. He slumped into the chair, fast asleep and memory erased.

"Hestia, Moody, I want you to take Mr Malfoy and see if you can get anything else out of him. I think you're intimidating personalities will be enough to make him sing," he said.

Hestia rolled her eyes and many snickered. It was well known how short a temper the witch had. But on most occasions she was a pleasant enough person to have around. She had joined the auror academy three years before Tonks and had graduated bottom of her class. Her skills didn't lie in her magical strength but her intelligence when it came to outwitting her opponents.

Dumbledore grew serious and the brief moment of humour was gone. "We have to double our efforts in uncovering the death eaters in the muggle governments," he said solemnly. "Whatever it is that Voldemort has planned will definitely have something to do with the muggle weapons he stole. We will also have to alert the muggles to an imminent nuclear strike on their lands. Mr Cane, we must gather your men and find the potential targets Voldemort could strike upon."

Cane scoffed. "Voldemort is a mad man," he said. "Not even our best surviving analysts could predict where he could strike! It's been almost 6 months since this bloody war began and we've never come close to predicting his plans!"

"We always knew what the plan was Cane," Dumbledore said. "What we didn't know is how and when and thanks to young Mr Malfoy we now know that his attack will come soon and it will be definitely be of a nuclear magnitude. I cannot stress the importance of finding these bombs before they are detonated."

"And what if they are?" Madam Bones asked loudly. It was the question everyone had on their minds but were too afraid to say it.

In all his long years Dumbledore had never felt so helpless. "We cannot let it come to that," he said, his eyes devoid of emotion. He wasn't going to say it. He wasn't going to acknowledge the scenario of a world wasted by fire and ash. He wasn't!

"Our group of fighters maybe small but remember that we are fighting for everything that is good in this world. Don't lose hope and never give up!"

"Let's face it Albus," Emmeline Vance said glumly, "Right now we're nothing more than pests in front of Voldemort's army. No matter how good we are with a wand."

"If you think like that, then we've already lost," remarked Harry. "The day London was attacked by the dragon. I slaughtered at least a hundred death eaters. If Professor Dumbledore was there, he could have dealt with them even more efficiently."

"What's your point Potter?" asked Hestia.

"My point is that together we're a powerhouse. Have any of you seen star wars?"

The blank stares from ninety per cent of them answered his question. On the other hand, the muggleborns and the few muggles present understood.

"A dark lord takes over the entire universe," said Mr Austin, taking over from Harry. "He destroys, no decimates the Jedi, who are the peace keepers of the universe and in a more relevant way, us, but a few survive and go into hiding until they are strong enough to fight back. The dark lord rules the galaxy for decades but a small group of freedom fighters endure."

"So you're saying Voldemort is going to take over the world and we are going to live in fear for the rest of our lives!" exclaimed Bones.

"Listen to the whole story!" Harry snapped. "In the end the dark lord is slain, his army beaten and a new age dawns!"

Mr Austin nodded in agreement.

"These are dark times my friends," Dumbledore said quietly. "An entire country has been destroyed and the world could soon follow. I hope you understand the magnitude of those words. Don't be under the illusion that even if we do stop Voldemort that are lives are going to be the same. We _must_ keep fighting no matter what."

"Fight and you can die with your honour or run away and watch the world burn like a coward," growled Moody. "It's your choice. Now if you'll excuse me. I have a pest to interrogate."

He stood up abruptly and slung Draco over his shoulder.

"Is there anything else Albus? Or do you want to continue your sermon?"

Sirius snorted.

"It was funny!" he said defensively when a dozen eyes glared at him.

"No matter," Dumbledore said. "You all know what you need to do," he said. "A patronus will be sent to you if there is an emergency. Mr Cane, if you would follow me."

"How come nobody discussed what went down in London and what has happened to it?" Harry asked Sirius.

"We told Dumbledore about it and he decided it was best not to mention it," Sirius whispered. " _Molicorbus_ ," he said pointing his wand at Blaise lifting him into the air and guiding his body in front of him as the left.

"Some of the members were told but if everyone realized what has been _really_ happening behind the enemy lines, they would want to join with him and morale would take a big hit."

Harry frowned. "So we're lying to them," he said. "We're forcing them to fight for us."

"What would you have done?" asked Sirius. "Told them the truth and lose good fighters to the dark side?"

Harry was silent.

"Let Dumbledore handle the decision making and we'll focus on surviving," he said wrapping his arm around his godson's shoulder affectionately. "Now tell me what possessed you to act like an idiot and enter an arena full of wizards, vampires and Voldemort himself!"

Harry grinned, "I was counting on the element of surprise," he said. "And it worked."

Sirius retracted his arm and gaped. "That's it? That was your plan!?"

"Meh, what's done is done."

Sirius gaped. "You could have been killed Harry!" he exclaimed.

"We can be killed or worse at any time Sirius," Harry retorted. "But I know that if I go down, I'll take down half their army before I am put down."

"Don't overestimate yourself Harry," Sirius said seriously. "You might have killed those vampires easily but a vampire's strength is cut down by half in the day. At night they hold an immense advantage over any wizard."

"Sirius being serious," Harry joked, ignoring the warning. "It doesn't suit you at all."

They finally came to a dormitory and Sirius dropped Blaise on one of the beds. "You going to wait for him to wake up or?"

"I'm going out," Harry said. "This new headquarters stinks."

Sirius turned into his animagus form and sniffed before turning back. "It's extremely musty that's all," he said.

Harry rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant. Why did we have to relocate to a freaking desert!?" he complained. "If Dumbledore preferred the cover of extreme climates than wouldn't the North or South Pole be a better option?"

"For you maybe," Sirius agreed. "Not for the rest of us. For everyone else it brings a sense of security. Above is the most dangerous magical pyramid in existence. Plus it is quite cool on the inside so I don't know what you're complaining about."

"We're living below a tomb Sirius," Harry snorted derisively. "I don't know about you but living under a tomb of a mad queen is freaky. We're living humans, not dead ones! We could have made an impenetrable HQ anywhere else in the world too."

"Dumbledore chose this place because of its wards," Sirius said. "Plus who would expect us to relocate under a pyramid with the added protection of fidelius!"

Harry scowled. "We could have made a base in Antarctica too," he said stubbornly. "I could have created an awesome igloo in minutes."

Sirius patted Harry on the back mockingly and Harry swiped his hand away irritably. "Who knows," Sirius said. "Maybe we can build a base there too."

"I'm getting out of here," Harry muttered, he was tired. He left gave a one finger salute to Sirius and left.

Narrow and low corridors combined with the idea of having a massive pyramid over his head did not suit Harry. There was also the added worry that the spirit of the queen could be awoken and she could get angry at them for making her tomb their home and curse them to oblivion. It would definitely save Voldemort the trouble of doing it himself.

There was two ways in and out. One was the special floo they installed from the Beauxbaton and the other was an invisible magical doorway leading straight to the desert. Harry would rather stand under the burning sun rather than stay inside this place they called HQ.

He navigated his way through the maze of corridors and was careful to avoid the places marked with a big X. Those were traps and one toe over that line was enough to send a person to his death.

Harry muttered expletives under his breath. As if it wasn't enough that they were being hunted on the outside, they had to be careful of being killed on the inside too.

He stopped abruptly as he ascended a flight of stairs and turned to his left and simply walked through the wall. A slight ripple in the air indicated that there was, in fact, a doorway present and Harry stepped out into the desert.

It was dry, too dry.

The sun was beating down with a vengeance and white sand stretched on for miles all around him. All the water that his body required was being sucked out and he could almost feel his skin shrivelling up like a dead leaf. Harry quickly reached out to his core and water began to stick to his body providing some comfort to him.

The pyramid was nowhere to be seen and he conjured a red flag and thrust it into the ground in front of the doorway since it was invisible and undetectable after all.

Harry closed his eyes and winced as the wind picked up pace and blew hot sand into his face.

"That was unpleasant," he muttered but it was better than staying underground. He still could not figure out why Dumbledore chose such a place. Surely there were hundreds of more isolated locations to pick out!

He sighed and shook his head to clear his mind. There was no point in dwelling on the eccentricities of Albus Dumbledore.

He held out his hand and the water which was just sitting on his skin began to rise up ignoring the concept of gravity and ice began to form accompanied with the crackling sound associated with its formation. Harry closed his eyes and pictured the object he wanted it to form into; a beach chair and an umbrella.

He grinned broadly when he opened his eyes. Beach items made of ice in the middle of the desert and he was all alone. It was brilliant.

He lay down and groaned when his skin hissed on contact with the ice. "God this is blissful," he sighed. He had to spit out sand after that for a gust of wind had blown some into his face again.

"That is not," he muttered after that and created a sort of wind breaker in front of him to protect his face. As he closed his eyes he found himself reflecting on the last six months. He had seen his fair share of death, traumatized victims and destruction. At first he had felt sick having to watch it all but now, dare he say it or even think it; he was beginning to enjoy the high that battle brought to him. The adrenaline rush that taking a life brought was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was hard to look stoic and disturbed in front of the others but it was necessary for if they actually saw his true feelings they would seriously think he was demented!

He briefly wondered if all this fighting was turning him into a psychopath before crushing the thought. He was capable of feeling and he wasn't addicted to taking lives. "I'm just not repulsed by it anymore," he said out loud in an effort to convince the tiny part of him wasn't being convinced.

He sighed and looked at the sky through his ice umbrella. It was beginning to melt because of the heat and he sent more power into his sculptures giving them more strength to resist the temperature.

"Harry!"

Harry frowned. Did someone just call him out? That was impossible. There was no one out here and no one had come through the door too.

"Hey Harry!"

He heard it again and got up. Was this heat enough to make him hallucinate?

"Over here!"

Harry looked it the direction he supposed the sound was coming and his eyes widened as he recognized her.

Lillian was panting hard by the time she reached him but there was a big relieved smile on her. "Am I glad to see you!" she gasped. "When did you get back?"

Harry frowned. "How did you get here?" he asked her as his eyes raked over her appearance. She was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt and was completely drenched in sweat. He found it extremely attractive.

"I came out here a while back and I got lost!" she exclaimed.

"Lost?" Harry repeated. "You got lost? How dumb are you!?"

Lillian blushed under Harry's incredulous look. "I was enjoying myself," she defended. "As soon as I got out by entire body felt like I had been given a large dose of life and energy!"

Harry looked around at the desolate surroundings. It was scalding hot, there was sand everywhere and the very air above the ground seemed to be rippling in front of him. He could see what she meant. This kind of atmosphere was paradise for her.

"Nice chair by the way," she added grinning.

Harry ignored her. "Care to tell me how you got lost? What would you have done if I hadn't showed up?"

Lillian's face turned redder. "I…. umm... I would have found my way back somehow," she said avoiding his eyes.

Harry snorted and lay back on his chair. "Well I was having a nice time before you interrupted me so do you mind?"

Lillian rolled her eyes and drew her wand.

Harry watched her curiously as she scrunched up her eyes in concentration and began to weave her wand through the air in a particular pattern. He recognized it as a transfiguration spell.

The sand in front of her began to rise and slowly take the shape of a shape of a beach chair similar to Harry's. She then flicked her wand sharply and the sand was transfigured into a wooden beach chair although it looked a little feeble.

Lillian's eyes shined in triumph.

Harry was amused at the feeble transfiguration. He drew his own wand and tapped the chair transforming it into a sturdier version and then he smirked at his fellow elemental.

"That's how you do it Ms Austin," he drawled.

Lillian huffed and sat on the chair. "Well not all of us can grasp magic the way you do," she grumbled. "Some of us have to actually practice and work hard before we can execute a difficult spell."

Harry felt his ego swell and despite his best efforts his lips curled upwards to form a very smug smile.

Lillian saw this and narrowed her eyes, "Don't let it get to your head Potter," she warned. "You might be a natural at magic but you're terrible at everything else."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Give me an example."

"Socializing, making friends, being nice, respecting elders, well you get my point," she said ticking away at an imaginary list. "There's a lot more I'm sure but I can't be bothered to remember them all. Not when the weather is so bloody brilliant."

"Your list is made of all things that mean absolutely nothing in my book," Harry retorted. "I respect those who deserve to be respected, I don't befriend idiots, I _am_ nice and who says I don't socialize. Besides, what good is socializing while a war is going on?"

"It's not important now but it is important," she said. "Back in Hogwarts people used to be afraid to go and even talk to you! Did you known that Romilda Vane wanted to invite you to their club but was too afraid to go even 10 feet near you!?"

"You mean that ridiculous club which used to send stalker messages to famous people!?"

"Well yes," Lillian said, "But that's not the point!"

"If your point was for me to be violated by an overly obsessive thirteen year old who, by the way, would have been _eleven_ at the time, then I glad those idiots found me unapproachable!"

"You're such a grouch," Lillian grumbled.

"Why are you even here," Harry said irritably. "You're ruining my peace."

"I'm out because if I'm in those annoying women will find something silly for me to do," she sighed. Harry could sense the supressed anger in her. "I'm out because by body craves for something to do and sitting inside and waiting for the world to end is something only the powerless should do and I am NOT powerless."

"So what's stopping you?" he asked her.

"My dad," she replied after a moment's hesitation.

Harry snorted. "Did I miss something?" Lillian asked him testily.

"You have magic in you, you control one of the most dangerous elements out there and just because your dad says so, you become so helpless?"

"It's called respecting your elders Harry," Lillian said quietly. "He is my father and he cares about me."

"And look where that got you," Harry said. "You're frustrated and confined."

Lillian was silent.

"But maybe you're right to listen to your father. I don't think you have the stomach to fight in a war."

"And you do!?" she shot back.

"Yes," was the strong and confident response. "I've been in it for the past 6 months."

The light hearted atmosphere that was building around them was suddenly reminded that even though everything seemed fine right now, people were dying almost every minute of the day.

"Is there any hope of stopping him," she asked quietly, her emotions bubbling through. "Every day more and more muggles keep pouring in. Are we ever going to go back to the way things were?"

"No, probably not," Harry said truthfully.

"Where were you this past week? I asked Dumbledore and he just gave me that annoying grandfatherly smile and politely told me to mind my own business," she said sounding very annoyed.

"I," he began hesitantly before stopping. Should he tell her? A part of him felt like everyone deserved to know the truth and another part which felt Dumbledore's decision was the right one. They were better off not knowing.

"What?"

Harry made his decision. "We infiltrated London."

Lillian gasped.

"And Voldemort has remodelled the entire city," he said grimly.

"How bad is it?" she whispered in dread her mind racing to the scenes of few horror movies she had seen.

"Bad!?" Harry snorted. "It's not bad. In fact it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Harry let out a breath as he recalled the sight of the floating castle. "On first glance it looked like a medieval magical and prosperous city."

"Huh?"

"Exactly," Harry said. "Everything that Voldemort has done will only convince all the magical being out there to come and join him. He has destroyed everything that was muggle and built an entire city from scratch."

"You have got to be kidding me," she said in disbelief.

"Believe it," Harry said bitterly. "What made us realize that this was actually the work of a dark lord were the armies of vampires and werewolves that were being bred away from the city."

Lillian's eyes were wide as she processed Harry's words and their full impact hit her.

"Those attacks that have been occurring all over Europe are just a teaser of what is to come. You said you want to fight, well you don't have to wait long."

"What about the people," she asked quietly. "Britain has a population of almost sixty million people!"

Harry looked her in the eye, "The people at Beauxbaton are all that's left."

"No way. That's impossible!" she cried. "You can just wipe out that many people of the map!" Her heart was racing. Her friends back home were dead? Her relatives, her old school teachers, her old life… it was all gone? Deep in her heart, from the moment parts of Britain became inaccessible, she knew. She knew they could be dead but she always kept hope that it wasn't true. A hope that they were still ignorant of the magical world and their lives were unaffected by the war that was descending on the world.

"How can it be?" she whispered, tears flowing freely.

Harry laid a hand on her shoulder. "This is what war is Lillian," he said softly. "And sooner or later you're going to be in it. Treasure this pseudo freedom that you have right now. Soon it will all be gone unless a miracle happens."

"You're that miracle Harry," she said wiping her eyes. "I haven't forgotten what the Nicolas had said. Only you can kill Voldemort."

"Lillian," Harry said. "And I'm not going to let you do it alone," she interrupted. The tears stopped and a steady resolve began to grow in her eyes. "Maybe you're the only one who can end him, but I'm going to be there when we bring him to his knees."

"I thought your dad forbid you from participating in this war," Harry mocked light heartedly though he was touched on the inside. She was the second to say such words to him and they struck a chord deep within him, very deep within. "What happened to respecting your elder's wishes?"

Lillian laughed and stared into his eyes. "The war is going to come to us whether we like it or not is it not? No matter what my dad hopes for we are going to be involved sooner or later aren't we?" she whispered.

Harry nodded stiffly.

"Then I think my decision's made," she murmured.

Harry felt something stir in him as she spoke. His heart started beating faster and for some reason her eyes were drawing him in. What was happening?

He was saved from those unusual feelings when a huge dog patronus came bounding up to him.

"Sirius," he cried out in relief.

" _Where are you? Come to Beauxbaton, Ms Austin has gone missing."_

Harry grinned when he heard the message.

"What did it say?" Lillian asked curiously.

"You're officially a missing person now," he teased. "How long have been out here!?"

"Shit!" she said panicking. "I completely forgot to tell anyone that I was here!"

Harry shook his head ruefully. "Freckles, sometimes I wonder why I even put up with your stupidity."

"I just forgot alright!" she snapped. "Now come on, let's go."

"What would you have done if I hadn't showed up?"

"Then I'd have to flame all the way to Beauxbaton," she said, hurrying towards the red flag Harry had put up. Dumbledore had warned them against using any form of magic to travel through the wards of the Pyramid except for the special floo that he had installed. "But covering that much distance would have left me exhausted for a good six hours."

Harry chuckled as Lillian stepped through the invisible door and Harry followed a second later after vanishing the flag.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

 ** _One Week Later_**

An old man, hooded and cloaked, made his way through a forest filled with all manners of dangerous creatures. He was filthy and his clothes were torn but he had a very pleased smile plastered to his face.

This man was Albus Dumbledore and he had finally managed to locate his beloved school, Hogwarts. Voldemort had put some clever wards similar to that of the fidelius but after two months of constant searching Dumbledore had found it and he was happy.

His mood changed when he was the rotting remains of a once magnificent dragon at the iron gates and he felt saddened by what Voldemort had reduced this creature to. But once he entered the castle grounds what he saw inside made every fibre of his body burn with fury.

Hundreds of death eaters in training were lined up side by side in a single form and each one of them had a living target in front of them. A creature to practice and perfect their spells on and almost all the creatures were centaurs and merpeople. All of them were screaming themselves raw as the death eaters tortured them and the air around the castle stank of death and darkness. Near the entrance of the castle, there was a rising pile of bodies. It was the result of endless and mindless torture.

Dumbledore let the rage inside him grow until a pulse of magic exploded out of him and everyone in the vicinity stopped their activities.

"Who are you!?" shouted one of the leaders pointing his wand at what seemed to be a fragile old man.

Dumbledore ignored them and with a slight shake of his shoulders, his cloak fell to the ground revealing him.

"It's Dumbledore!" cried one of the death eaters in panic as they laid eyes on the white clad wizard. Dumbledore was the picture perfect image of the light but his magic and eyes told another story. They screamed revenge and vengeance.

"This is what you've been training for men!" screamed their leader. "Kill him!"

"I'm not going to forgive you," Dumbledore whispered slowly walking towards them. Each step forward he took, inspired more fear into his opponents. They could feel his anger and magic pressing down on them from all sides as the fired spell after spell at him but strangely not even one seemed to be on target.

The sky started darkening as storm clouds began to gather unnaturally fast and the wind began to pick up speed. The stones beneath their feet began to vibrate and terror began to seep into their souls. Dumbledore's visage seemed to grow larger before their eyes as he got closer to them.

"Kill him!" screamed the leader shielding his face against the sharpness of the wind and he was down on his knees unable to move. What none of them had realized is that all this was an illusion created by Dumbledore's intent alone.

"Silence," Dumbledore commanded and everything stopped. There was utter silence in the ground. Nobody dared to breathe. Some of them had passed out and most of them were on all fours with their terrified eyes locked with Dumbledore's.

This was the man who had fought and defeated Grindelwald. It was a man Dumbledore had hoped never to see again. It was a man capable of going toe to toe with Lord Voldemort and emerge the victor.

Dumbledore had brought them all down without lifting a finger. He reached up to the leader and lifted his chin up.

"P-please," he whispered as he looked into those cold blue eyes.

And then Dumbledore flicked his wand. Twigs, vines and roots burst out of the ground and with great speeds they began to warp themselves around the death eater's necks. They were helpless to stop it. All they could do was scream and beg for mercy but that too stopped as their air supply was ruthlessly cut off. Dumbledore was not feeling merciful at all. He wanted vengeance.

The headmaster watched dispassionately as the roots began twisting and twirling around each other forming a single massive rope and shot towards the astronomy tower hauling the all the death eaters into the sky at once.

It was a mass hanging. Dumbledore kept his eyes fixed until the last of the twitching bodies came to a halt and all that remained was a large cluster of bodies stacked together and hanging lifelessly from the highest point of Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore had slaughtered over a hundred witches and wizards in a cold fury.

He looked at the ones he had spared. The ones whose mind he had touched and found revulsion instead of enjoyment.

They looked barely out of school and were altering between staring at the bodies above them and the headmaster in fear. "Sleep," Dumbledore said softly and all of them slumped to the ground unconscious.

The silence that followed was deafening.

A centaur trotted to him and placed his hand on the old man's shoulders. The centaur was badly injured and few of his fingers were missing.

"Thank you Albus," he said hoarsely. "Thank you for delivering justice upon these vile creatures." All the creatures that were still alive slowly and painfully pushed themselves to their feet and there was gratitude written all over their faces. Dumbledore had saved them from certain death.

"This wasn't justice," Dumbledore said quietly. "This was murder." His mind was flashing back to scenes from the past when his sister had died.

"These men have killed more than hundreds of our kin for sport," said one of the mermen. "They used us like objects to practice their craft on and the only justice such folk deserve is death."

Dumbledore straightened his back as his brief period of guilt passed. "Will you be alright?"

"Yes," replied one of the centaurs. "Do what you came here to do Albus. Hogwarts needs to be saved."

"Will you join us?"

"You know our laws Albus," said the centaur. The merpeople had already begun to carry their dead and retreat into the lake. They had no want to take part in this war and were going to leave the black lake first thing after they recovered and move to the homes of their ancestors. They wanted to be far away from the reach of Lord Voldemort.

"Voldemort will not leave you alone," Dumbledore warned.

The centaur smiled. "The stars guide our path Albus," he said. "Before I depart take heed to the words the heavens command me to impart to you. _He will fall to darkness before the end_."

A chill ran down Dumbledore's spine. He had a rough idea who the centaur was talking about. "Is there a way to stop it?"

"There is always a way my friend," said the centaur mysteriously. "Leave our kin, we will be back to send them on the journey to meet our ancestors." And like shadows at noon they disappeared into the forest leaving Dumbledore surrounded by corpses. They had left and Dumbledore felt a terrible weight settle on his shoulders. If only he could go back in time and stop his younger self from ever introducing Tom Riddle to the wizarding world.

"He would have become a menace in the muggle world instead," said a small voice in his mind. Albus heaved a sigh and brought down the bodies he had strung up and transfigured them into little coins before banishing them into the forest. They would turn back in a couple of hours and the Threstels and all other manners of creatures could feast on them. They didn't deserve a burial.

The bodies of the other dead creatures he buried next to the forest with a heavy heart. He then summoned a large rock and after a few modifications a large unmarred marble tomb stone was erected on the grave.

He stood there for a moment to pay his respects and then headed to the castle's entrance. He found it odd to find the castle so silent and dead. Where were the ghosts? Where was Peeves? Was Filch murdered? What about the teachers who remained in the castle? What had Voldemort done with them?

Questions about the school continued to grow in his mind but for now he focused on his current job. The title of headmaster of Hogwarts was more than just a title. It had powerful magic behind it and came with knowledge about the castle. Hogwarts was not just a school. It was also a fortress when the time called for it.

 ** _"I, Albus Dumbledore, command Hogwarts to open."_**

He was at the lowest level in the castle standing on a spot on the floor that could easily be dismissed as dirt unless you knew better and as he said the words, like a completed jigsaw puzzle being pulled apart, the floor beneath his feet began to shift. Dumbledore stood still as the section he was standing on began to sink.

He felt a tingle of magic pass through him as he sunk into the ground and was surrounded by darkness.

"SPEAK!" thundered a powerful voice. Something about the voice just told him that it was Gyffindor.

Dumbledore spoke the motto of the school, " ** _Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus_**." And as silent as a laminar flow of water, a pillar rose in front of him. There were four crystals placed at four corners on it and each had the colour and crest of one founder.

Taking a deep breath Dumbledore set to work. He had to infuse each crystal with magic to active all the wards and that required immense amounts of magic. Gently he placed the tip of his wand on the top of the green crystal. At first nothing happened but suddenly he felt his magic being sucked into the crystal violently. He gasped and quickly grabbed onto the pillar for support.

He closed his eyes and focused on easing the flow of magic. He had to be careful else the crystals would suck him dry.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Would you look at this," grumbled Tim Moth, a tall, thin and balding software engineer to his wife. It was early in the morning and whatever news came on the television only disgusted him. "First that debacle with the nuclear bombs in Britain and now this!"

That was the official lie the world governments had decided to feed the people. Britain had gone up in flames after the accidental detonation of nuclear bombs in transit. It was a simple and efficient lie which most people accepted without question but those who were knowledgeable about such bombs knew it was impossible for a single bomb to wipe out the entire country. Of course that didn't stop the global economy from crashing and it definitely didn't stop the people from protesting against having such weapons of mass destruction. It other words it had become very hard to be capable of standing on your own two feet if you were at the bottom of the food chain.

"Don't get so worked up Tim," she said, while cracking a couple of eggs in the frying pan. "Those terrorists will be stopped soon, don't worry about it. You just focus on making enough dough for our vacation."

"But Meg, we don't have enough to go to Berlin! With this war mentality that our government has suddenly been infected and with the economy in shambles our pay has been cut drastically!"

"You promised me a vacation Tim!" snapped his wife. "And if I don't get one this year, you'll find my lawyer crawling up your ass."

"You're going to threaten me with divorce when you know what kind of shit we are in? I was lucky enough to keep my job you know that!" he exclaimed. "Do you even love me anymore!?"

"A husband who doesn't even take his wife on a honeymoon doesn't deserve love," she growled brandishing her ladle threateningly.

Tim eyed the steel ladle in her hand warily. Now might not be the best time to anger her.

Suddenly there was a high pitched noise from the television and the lady babbling about the new reforms put in place by the government was replaced by a man. The man was strikingly handsome and he was sitting in a throne.

"Hello," he said charmingly.

"What's this shit now?" wondered Tim aloud.

"My name is lord Voldemort and I am a wizard."

"This some new series?" asked his wife, bewildered.

"This is a worldwide broadcast and I am here to make a very special and joyous announcement." Voldemort paused for dramatic effect and then said, "I am responsible for the complete and utter annihilation of Great Britain."

"I knew it!" gasped Tim. "I knew it was a terrorist attack! They took out the English and now they're targeting us!"

"Tim shut up and listen!" shouted his wife.

"Now I have a desire to rid this word of non-magical folk like you and for your benefit I'm giving all of you fifteen minutes to surrender and I shall consider not destroying you."

Voldemort smiled chillingly, his eyes sparkling with sadistic humour.

"Have a good day now," he said and the broadcast turned to static.

Tim turned to his wife with horror stricken eyes.

"Oh don't look so petrified Tim," snorted his wife. "This was just some silly advert by Hollywood."

Fifteen minutes later she would wish it were.


	48. Part 2 - Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Going Nuclear**

Panic, it was the only way to describe the climate in the resistance. Harry and Lillian forcefully navigated through the alarming crowd that had gathered in the headquarters. Harry had received an urgent patronus from Sirius for a meeting and Lillian, who was with him at the time, had decided to accompany him.

"Move," Harry snarled at someone who almost knocked him down. Two minutes had been wasted trying to get to the briefing room and the tone of the message had been very pressing.

"What's going on?" Lillian asked worriedly as she stuck close to the slightly taller frame of Harry. People constantly went in and out of the briefing room and it seemed they were getting constant orders from the inside. Whatever seemed to the problem it was clear that it was nothing but bad news.

It was clear that whatever the issue was, it had dismantled everyone's sense of calm.

"What's going on!?" Harry shouted as he fought his way to Sirius.

"Voldemort just gave an ultimatum to the muggle world," Sirius said.

"What!?" cried Harry, his eyes widening in shock. "When?!"

"About ten minutes ago. It was broadcast all over the world," he said solemnly.

Where was Dumbledore, thought Harry worriedly. This was big and they needed the headmaster to make everyone think rationally. He glanced around and saw Moody shouting orders around while patronuses flew around like candy on Halloween.

"What did he say?" Lillian asked.

Sirius was surprised to see her. "Does your father know you're here?" he began while glancing at the man in question who was in a heated conversation with Cane and Bones.

"What did he say?" repeated Harry.

"Fifteen minutes to destruction and it's been twelve minutes now. Dumbledore's not here and there's no one to take charge of things," he said helplessly gesturing around him.

Harry's eyes widened.

"He's going to go nuclear!?" Harry said aghast. Where was Dumbledore!?

"Possibly?" Sirius said grimly.

"What about our people searching for the weapons?"

"Moody just ordered everyone back to Beauxbaton. If we haven't found anything yet, we aren't going to be able to do much in another three minutes."

Harry was unable to get his tongue to form words. Was the situation so hopeless!? He prayed they were in time. Patronus messages travelled at incredible speeds and he hoped against hope that they were in time. They could not afford to lose their numbers. Not now.

Every eye in the room was riveted to the single clock on the wall as the seconds went by. 30 seconds, 10 and then it was time.

The tension in the air was unbearable and not one person moved a muscle.

Had Voldemort done it? Had he detonated the nuclear weapons? Where were the teams out there? Did they get the messages in time? Where was Dumbledore!?

The same questions repeated in everyone's mind over and over again as they waited and waited for some sort of news.

Their hearts nearly leaped out of their mouths when Rufus Scrimegoer burst into the room. His expression was forbidding and instantly they knew it was bad news.

"Did everyone get out in time?" Bones asked immediately, her voice reflecting her anxiety.

"Where Albus?" he growled instead.

"Not here," answered Harry. "Did it happen?"

Scrimgeour didn't like that fact that he had to answer a boy barely into his teens but seeing the looks on everyone else's face he yielded.

"No bombs of nuclear magnitude have gone off," he said and relief flooded everyone's hearts.

"However!" he added, interrupting the tiny moment of joy, "According to Mr Cane's general, every nuclear reactor in the world has just begun to go critical."

"Oh my god," whispered Cane, his eyes wide in horror. This was even worse.

"Voldemort's going after our most important resource," gasped Mr Granger and those aware of the words ' _nuclear reactor going critical_ ' paled drastically.

"No wonder we found nothing," Bones said, clenching her fists. "He never bothered with the governments!"

"What do we do?" Mr Austin asked, trying his very best not to panic. At the same time the Tonks came into the room looking very stressed.

"Where's Dumbledore," she asked immediately.

Harry took the center stage. "He's not here and it seems like he's busy elsewhere. Mr Cane," Harry said sharply addressing the once high ranking official. "Is there any way to stop a reactor from going critical?"

Cane licked his dry lips. "A reactor going critical means that the fuel is not being cooled which will result in steady temperature rise and could result in an explosion," he said nervously. "The explosion will send a massive cloud of radiation in all directions which is deadly to humans. Another scenario is that the containment core has been breached and radiation starts to leak. _Or_ Voldemort could have caused an explosion inside the core leading to the reaction becoming unstable."

"Is the radiation harmful?" Diggle squeaked.

Harry resisted the urge to smack the man.

"It will kill you and even if you live it will make sure your descendants will be affected too. We cannot let this happen!" Bones cried out loud.

"Is there a way to stop it Cane?" Moody growled.

Cane shrugged helplessly. "It depends on what was the means for the meltdown in the first place."

"Is there a way to stop it regardless!?"

An epiphany hit Harry. "Would freezing the core or the whole plant itself work?"

Cane shrugged again and Harry's temper rose. He too was on the edge here and Cane defeatist attitude was not helping!

"Oh for merlin's sake!" he shouted. "Contact one of your men who does know about these things and find out! WE DON'T HAVE TIME!"

There were more than five hundred such reactors in the world and for all of them to fail. Harry shuddered. The loss of life would be astronomical and that was exactly what Voldemort wanted.

"In the mean time I want everyone and I mean _everyone_ to start evacuating muggles out of the danger zone," he said.

"I don't think we should be making that decision," Vance said. "We should wait for Dumbledore." A few agreed with her.

"Dumbledore is not here," Harry growled. "And if he's not here that means he's out there doing something to help us. Now stop you whining and get moving!"

"Now listen here you!" barked another person Harry knew by face but not by name.

Harry was having none of it. "Enough!" he shouted and his magic began to ripple out of him. He was only 5'6'' in height and not very muscular or strong looking but at the moment he suddenly seemed like a giant whose presence was filling the entire room.

"Moody," Harry called. "I want you to send a three member team to each location. Start placing muggle repelling wards around the reactor and the populated areas around them to force them out and add a calming ward as well. Panic will only make things harder."

"Voldemort could unleash his army as well Potter. What about them?" asked the auror, who, for some reason seemed to be pleased that Harry was taking command.

"Do not engage them. Whichever team encounters an army of vampires or werewolves should get the hell out and call for back up. If you're too late to stop the reactor get the hell out. Don't risk your lives right now. The time for that will come. Go back to Beauxbaton and start sending out the teams. Sirius, Lillian and I will form a team and meet you there," Harry said. "Now go!"

"What!?" exclaimed Mr Austin when he heard the last few words. "Mary? What are you doing here!?"

"I'm going to fight dad," she said resolutely. Around them Moody was shepherding everyone out of the HQ and to the school.

"Absolutely not!" he shouted. "Have you forgotten our chat young lady?" he said threateningly.

"I have not and I don't care anymore," she bit back. "I am strong dad and I will be a valuable asset in battle. I love you and I know you want to protect me but this time you can't."

Harry and Sirius watched the exchange quietly.

"Mary this is not your war!"

"I'm sorry dad," she said, her eyes shining with half formed tears. "But you have let go. Whether you like it or not we are all part of this war now and my power refuses to let me stand by and do nothing."

"I'm sorry," she said again and then sent a stunner into his gut. She felt crushed at the look of betrayal in her father's eyes and as Sirius reacted quickly to catch the falling man, she turned away and buried her face in Harry's shoulder before bursting into tears.

War suddenly took a back seat as Harry gaped at the sobbing girl who had decided to use his shirt as a tissue. He turned to Sirius for help but the older man just grinned. "I'm taking Robert back; you handle Lillian and make it fast. We don't have time."

Harry stared around the now empty room helplessly. "There there," he said uncomfortably. "You did what needed to be done."

Lillian cried harder and Harry was beginning to feel his shirt getting damp.

"Alright that's enough," he said loudly and grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away. Her tear filled reddened eyes came in contact with his and Harry felt his heart soften. Whatever harsh words he intended to use on her just died in his throat and instead he gave her a feeble smile.

"Now is not the time for this Lillian," he said gently. "We have work to do and I think you should save your tears for later because there's going to be a lot more of them."

"I can't believe I stunned my dad," she whimpered. "I just attacked my own father," she said in disbelief and pain.

Harry couldn't help the pang of guilt that touched his heart. It was his fault in a way. "Listen, Mary," he said gently wiping the tears from her cheek. "Your dad loves you and I'm sure he understands why you did what you did. In his heart he just couldn't bear the fact that his daughter was going to be jumping head first into a dangerous war. No parent would want their only child to experience such a thing. But it was inevitable so let's get rid of the tears and go and help the people who need it."

It was like looking at a lost puppy, thought Harry. A very pretty lost puppy, his mind added.

Her tears stopped and she wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt. Harry looked everywhere but her exposed navel. "You're right," she said sniffing. "And I sorry about that breakdown," she added. "It won't happen again."

"Make sure it doesn't," he said wryly.

"Let's go," she said, determination steeling her voice and Harry smiled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

Dumbledore stirred. He had collapsed on the cold floor and he was shivering. Weakly he opened his eyes and wondered where he was before the preceding events of the night came rushing back to him. The entire room was bathed in light and when Dumbledore looked up to the crystals, each and every one of them was glowing as bright as the morning sun. He found it difficult to keep his eyes on them but his heart swelled with relief when he realized that he was not dead because of magical exhaustion and all the crystals were fully charged and he would feel the power of the wards.

They were incredible and it was like nothing he had felt before. He was, however, very weak and needed some nourishment.

"Twinky," he called weakly. An instant later there was pop and a little house elf was standing before him with an expression of happiness.

"Master is back!" the elf squeaked. "Master had gone and bad wizards come to the castle!"

Dumbledore smiled. "Well I'm back now and the castle is safe," he said kindly.

"What can Twinky be doing for the master?"

"I need you to take me to my office and bring be some food Twinky. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course master!" Twinky said, sounding a little offended that his master had to even doubt him.

"Thank you my friend," Dumbledore said chuckling and stuck his hand out for the elf to take a hold off. The elf snapped its fingers and disappeared with a pop along with the headmaster.

The first thing Dumbledore noticed when he arrived in his office was the plethora of patronuses that had surrounded him and one by one they relayed the same message.

 _"Albus! Voldemort has made his move. We need you!"_

 _"Albus, Voldemort has just given the muggles an ultimatum! He is going to destroy them he said! Where are you!?"_

Dumbledore felt the blood drain from his body. What had Voldemort done they did not say! Had he detonated those terrible weapons? Heart growing heavy he waited for Twinky's return. He needed his strength back before he could do anything else.

" _Hurry Twinky!"_ he thought urgently.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **London; 3 hours since the broadcast**

"Phase one has begun my lord."

Voldemort was in one of the many balconies in his castle overviewing his magical city. "Every last one of them?" he asked.

"Yes my lord."

"Good," he said, pleased. "Start moving the bombs to their targets."

"My lord," Lucius said hesitantly. "What about the Order? Shouldn't we take them out too?"

"Not yet," Voldemort said smirking. "I want to give them a chance to join me before I decide to get rid of them. Magic is precious Lucius and we should not kill those capable of wielding it without a thought."

What about my son, thought Lucius bitterly and unfortunately Voldemort caught that thought.

"You betrayed my faith Lucius," Voldemort hissed. "Be glad I didn't do worse and you know I could have."

Lucius immediately went to his knees. "Forgive me my lord."

"Start moving the bombs before I change my mind Lucius," he said. "And don't forget our muggle scientists. We need them to arm the bombs."

"Should we kill them after they are done?" Lucius asked.

"Bring them back," Voldemort said surprising the blond.

"My Lord?" Lucius said incredulously.

"We might need them later," Voldemort said chuckling. "They have much more work to do before they are allowed to embrace death."

Lucius didn't ask any more questions.

"Go now," Voldemort commanded and Lucius instantly disapparated with a resounding crack.

Voldemort disliked, no, he absolutely hated resorting to using the muggles weapons but he had no choice. If he had things his way and that creature didn't exist inside him, he would have used the darkest of magics to rain destruction on the muggle world. But it was not to be.

His mind moved on to the elemental. The power that boy had was incredible and he wanted it. Having such a force beside him would truly be wonderful. He had placed vampires near all the power plants and he hoped that this silver eyed demon would show up.

A shiver of thrill ran through him as he imagined how magnificent the encounter would be. The powers of an elemental pitted against his own! It would be a sight to behold. He only hoped that the vampires would not be stupid enough to attack him or worse, kill him. He wanted to give the elemental a chance to join him.

Voldemort sighed as he idly watched the rest of his army being armed. Once the bombs went off, his army would be unleashed and then would come the time to deal with Dumbledore. He wanted the old man to feel utter defeat before he killed him. That was another battle he was looking forward to. The temptation of using dark magic threatened to overcome him every day but somehow he resisted. He released most of that tension by slaughtering muggles deep inside his dungeons every day. The sweet smell of death always calmed his addiction.

He looked further into the distance where the goblins were readying an army of their own. Utter disgust clouded his mind when he thought of those vile creatures. Their time would come, he thought maliciously. But for now, their uses were plenty and he was happy to keep things that way.

His mind wandered to Hogwarts and he wondered why Bletchley had not reported yet. He put a reminder in his mind to send Avery or Yaxley to check up on him. He only hoped that fool hadn't taken the recruits for another excursion into the forest.

The sudden gust of wind behind him alerted him to the presence of a vampire.

"What news?"

"Ninety percent of the power plants have experienced full meltdowns and radiation clouds are spreading as we speak. Three plants in America were shut down in time by Dumbledore's men. Our people attempted to engage them but they escaped. Six plants in Europe were stopped, however at the Gragenrheinfeld power plant in Germany, not only was the core encased in ice, all the vampires in the area were dead too.

Voldemort's body went still.

"What did you say?" he asked dangerously.

"It seems our people engaged the elemental and they were killed," the vampire said, not reacting to the anger building in the dark lord.

"Did I not make my orders clear?!" Voldemort hissed furiously as his wand slipped into his hand.

"Our Lords orders take priority over your own My Lord," said the vampire.

Rage clouded Voldemort's mind and he wanted nothing more than to cut the vampire in front of him into tiny pieces and feed them to the werewolves, however he restrained himself with great effort. It would not do good to dice up one of the Count's aides.

"Get out of my sight," Voldemort spat. The Count and he needed have a nice chat.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Beauxbaton**

Harry and Lillian emerged one after the other from the floo and quickly hurried to the entrance of the school. There was visible surge of activity in the school. Students were being shepherded, presumably to the entrance hall and there was an air of excitement building around them. They didn't know what was going on, only that the war and stepped up.

"Ignorant fools!" thought Harry angrily. "Come on Freckles!" he said loudly, breaking into a run.

"How many times must I say it," she began. "Don't call me that. My freckles aren't even that visible!"

"You'll always be freckles to me freckles," Harry said teasingly and he ducked to avoid the swipe of her hand.

"Mary," someone shouted as the neared the entrance way. "Mary!"

Harry turned around and spotted two people he did not want to see.

"It's your entourage," he said sarcastically. "Don't tell them anything."

"Hermione, Ron!" she yelled out beckoning them over.

Harry saw Sirius waiting for them and increased his pace. The sooner they left the better.

"Has everyone left Sirius?" Harry asked quickly.

"They've gone and most of them are back too. Cane is coordinating their moments for now but we need Dumbledore desperately. Saying the situation is bad doesn't do it justice. Fifty per cent of the reactors have already blown sky high and it's only a matter of time before the rest are gone too."

"Where did McGonagall assign us? Is the portkey ready?"

Sirius held up a red sock.

"Lillian let's go!" yelled Sirius. "There's no time!"

"Are you going with them Mary!" Hermione said, aghast. "It's too dangerous!"

"Are you a member now!?" demanded Ron incredulously. "How come you get to join and I don't?"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley!" came the shrill and angry voice of Molly Weasley. "I told you two to take the floo and go to the headquarters!"

"But mum, we want to help!" protested Ron.

"I don't want to hear a word out of you right now," she scolded. "You too Mary, Hermione."

"Lillian, people are dying as we speak!" yelled Harry angrily.

"Sorry," mouthed Lillian and ran towards Harry. Hermione, Ron and Molly watched in shock as the three took a hold of the sock and disappeared.

"What is wrong with that girl!?" spluttered Molly. "She's only a child! What will her father say!?"

"He'll just say that he's proud of his daughter," Robert said, sadness radiating from his voice.

"You can't mean that Robert," Molly said severely.

Robert just shook his head. "She's always been headstrong and now she's being forced to grow up much too fast." He sighed and turned away from the plump witch. "I'm proud of her for making the right choice."

"Fighting in a war is not the right choice Robert!"

"Someone as powerful as her should not be kept contained Molly," murmured Robert. Even though he was speaking normally his eyes and mind were a million miles away. He was terribly worried about his only daughter and he prayed that if there was a god out there he would keep her safe. It was all he could do.

Ron and Hermione just watched wide eyed as Robert spoke.

"We can fight too mum!" Ron said, hoping that Mr Austin's words would soften up his mother. He got a smack in return.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Gragenrheinfeld Nuclear Power Plant**

The alarm was long drawn and both its highs and lows were ear shattering loud.

"Where is everybody!?" Lillian shouted, barely able to hear herself over the sound of the alarm.

Massive cylindrical containers and pipes surrounded them and several pipes had burst open billowing a never ending stream of steam.

"Let's keep looking," Sirius murmured, his eyes darting around sharply looking for signs of danger. "Harry, seal anything you think is broken."

"Got it," Harry said and began to encase whatever seemed broken to him in a thick layer of ice.

"I think the control rooms that way!" Lillian said, pointing towards a cleaner area in the plant which wasn't clustered with gargantuan machinery.

Harry led the way with Lillian behind him and Sirius bringing up the rear. It was highly possible that Voldemort's men were still in the vicinity waiting for the complete meltdown.

A shocking sight welcomed them when they did find the control room. Seven men in white coats all lying on the floor, dead, with parts of their body scattered around. In the back of the room instead of a wall, there was a gallery.

Harry glanced at Lillian and he saw what he expected. She was green and he knew she was desperately pushing the bile down. She couldn't and quickly turned away before throwing up. Sirius hurried over to her and Harry quickly went to the gallery and his eyes widened.

What little he knew about a nuclear reactor was that the fuel had to be constantly kept cooled and stable. What he saw down in the core was a mess. There were some rods which were red and that wasn't because it was their colour. They were that hot and it didn't take a genius to realize that, that was not supposed to happen. Water that was supposed to be circulating was gushing out of a massive hole in the structure and one glance at the number of red lights blinking on the control panel made his realize that this plant was seconds away from blowing till kingdom come.

He made a snap decision and raised his arms letting a torrent of water and ice flood the compartment below him. His heart skipped a beat when the rods melted the ice he encased it with and the water simply evaporated. How hot was that thing!?

He crunched his eyes tight and poured more power into the ice. Below him it was a battle between a couple dozen rods made of uranium against a raging storm of ice and water. What should have been an easy task was turning out to be very dangerous.

Behind him Lillian and Sirius looked on in dismay as Harry was unable to contain the rods.

"Come on!" grimaced Harry as he felt the temperature of the rods start to go down. He quickly sealed all the openings in the core and filled up the core with water. The room had become so saturated with magic that he felt a sudden disturbance near the entrance.

"Watch out!" he yelled and snapped his arm towards Sirius and Lillian forming a shield in front of them. An instant later a fist smashed into it crushing it to pieces.

"Vampires!" screamed Sirius. " _Solaris!"_ he shouted pointing his wand up drastically brightening the room. Five vampires screeched in pain.

" _Diffindo!"_ roared Sirius decapitating two of the vampires. The rest recovered from the light and disappeared in a burst of speed but Harry, because of his training, was able to see them and with a swipe of his arm he sent sharp edged ice towards one in midair. The vampire didn't stand a chance.

"Behind you Lillian!" Sirius screamed in panic. A vampire was about to thrust his arm into her body.

"NO!" shouted Harry in horror as he blocked an attack by the fourth vampire and encased its head in ice before crushing it.

Time seemed to slow down for Lillian as she turned around to see an arm rushing straight towards her heart. She squealed in terror and shut her eyes waiting for the deadly blow to strike.

.

.

.

Seconds passed by and she didn't feel any pain at all. Was she dead?

She opened her eyes and saw the vampire right in front of her with an expression of utter shock. Did it miss? Relief flooded her body and this time she didn't freeze up. She jumped back while simultaneously bringing her wand up and letting a cutting curse loose.

She had just slain her first vampire.

"Freckles," Harry said staring at her. Even Sirius was looking at her speechlessly.

Lillian was feeling all pumped up and she turned towards the other two with a triumphant look which slowly faded to worry when she saw her companions expressions. "What!?" she said fearfully.

Sirius just pointed at her chest.

She looked down and gasped. Her torso had turned to fire. The vampire hadn't missed she realized with a start. Her body had just changed form!

"Oh my god!" she gasped. "What's happened to me?!"

"Why, why don't you concentrate on turning back to normal," suggested Sirius helplessly. He was a little freaked by what he was seeing right now. It wasn't everyday someone changed from flesh and bones into a being of fire.

Lillian took deep calming breaths and focused on turning back into normal. It was easier than she expected and her body was back. She let out a sigh of relief before her eyes focused on her first kill. The blood from the vampire was beginning to pool beneath her feet and her heart rate spiked as she realized exactly what she had just done. She had just beheaded a vampire!

"The reactor looks normal," Harry commented. He raised his hands and a tendril of ice snaked out, freezing everything as soon as it came in contact with the water in the core.

"Oh Merlin," Lillian moaned as she tried to ignore the squelching sound her shoes made when she tried to step out of the puddle of blood. Suddenly her stomach couldn't handle all that had happened in less than five minutes. The sight of the blood coated floor, the gory images of the dead vampires and men combined with her latest discovery about her power was too much and she literally ran out of the room.

"Let's get out of here," Sirius muttered, glancing around with a look of disgust. "You sure your ice will keep this place under control?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know anything about a nuclear reactor. But if this seems to be keeping it from exploding then I'm sure there will be enough time for the surrounding people to evacuate even if it does explode."

"Let's get going then," Sirius said. "We have to get the people to evacuate if this thing does blow up."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **HQ**

"What's the damage?" Dumbledore asked solemnly.

"It's bad Albus," said Cane tiredly. "Millions are dying as we speak and half the world has lost its power. Voldemort didn't just take out the nuclear power plants; he targeted most of the muggle main resources. Dams, oil rigs, major power stations, airports…." Cane trailed off unable to say anymore.

"The US, Japan, parts of Russia and Europe literally have a cloud of radiation poison over them," Amelia said grimly. "They're effectively dead fish in the water. Most of the Asian and middle eastern countries have been left alone but they're not going to last long. The economic crisis was enough to cripple them and they will be easy pickings once Voldemort decides to attack them too."

"Not to mention the wide spread panic," said Moody. "People are fleeing their homes but they have nowhere to go. It's a crazy mess out there Albus. We tried to put up several wards to help them but they are too many people for us to handle. And not to mention scavengers who are trying to make the most of this crisis. If this wasn't enough, people are turning animalistic to survive."

"Simply put the major forces in the muggle world are nearly done for. What's worse is that Voldemort didn't even need to use nuclear weapons to do it! Scrimgeour said. "The muggles are done for Albus. No matter what we do, we can't do anything to help them. There's too few of us and even if we tried where would we hide them? Beauxbaton is overcrowded, Hogwarts is gone, half the world is covered in poison…." He took a deep calming breath. Panic was threatening to overwhelm him. "Let's face it Albus. We can't help them. They rejected us when we did extend our hand and now look at this catastrophe."

Silence followed Scrimgeour's words.

"We were so worried about the nuclear weapons and his army, we didn't even bother to consider another way of attack from the dark lord," came Snape's voice from the doorway startling everyone inside.

"Severus!" exclaimed Dumbledore. "Where have you been?"

"Examining Draco's mind," he replied.

"Did you find anything?" asked Hestia. Her interrogation hadn't gotten much out of the boy.

Snape took a seat next to Moody. "Wizards and witches are immune to radiation poisoning," he said shocking everyone. "That was the only thing of use I could find in the recesses of his mind."

"And that's why Voldemort is being so casual with nuclear material. He knows it's harmless to us!"

"Quite," muttered Snape dryly.

"Australia," said Dumbledore out of the blue.

Confused looks greeted him.

"We can give the surviving muggles refuge in Australia or some remote area in the middle east," he explained. "If we don't do anything to make sure they survive, then we might as well talk about the end of mankind. The Asian countries are too over populated to give them refuge there but I have it on good authority that they have begun to take action as we speak."

"Whose authority?" barked Moody.

"We are not the only wizards on the planet Alastor," Dumbledore said smiling. "The Indians have some remarkable wizards and they are doing all they can to protect their people, both magic and non-magic, from Voldemort."

"They won't survive his attack Albus and you know it," Amelia said.

"They can hold him off for a time," replied Dumbledore. "We, on the other hand, have to focus on saving lives in peril and stopping Voldemort."

"And how are we to do that!" scoffed Cane. All this was hopeless, he thought. They were all going to die.

"I reclaimed Hogwarts," he said, his eyes shining in triumph.

"No way!" gasped Vance and she wasn't the only one to say so. Everyone was delighted to hear this.

"But we cannot go there yet," he added.

"What!? Why not?"

Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Where is Mr Malfoy locked up?"

"Below us," Snape said. "In one of the burial chambers."

Dumbledore crossed his fingers in deep thought with his head bowed.

A few minutes later he looked up; his eyes gleaming. "We need to let him escape."

"Have you gone crazy Dumbledore!" Moody shouted furiously. "That kid has information on us now! We can't just let him go!"

"No, we can't," retorted Dumbledore sharply. "But I have a plan."


	49. Part 2 - Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Lovegood**

 _Hour 1_

Draco was furious beyond belief. How dare these mudbloods and muggle lovers lock him in here like some common mongrel!?

"They will pay for this," he spat. His robe was smeared with grime and his hair was all over the place. "I've never been this filthy in my life!" he screamed, his voice bouncing off the walls, before pounding his fists on the door again.

 _Hour 4_

His throat was raw from all the screaming and his anger had now dissolved and changed into fear and distress. "Please," he whimpered. "Please just let me out of here. I promise I'll behave!"

Outside the cage Moody and Hestia stood silently observing.

"I can't believe he's already blubbering," Moody scoffed, forgetting that this was no man, but a child no older than fifteen years. "Wasn't he supposed to have been held prisoner by Voldemort before being feed to the acromantula?"

"This just tells us what kind of prison they were in," Hestia said with a snort. "How much longer do we hold him?"

"You'll see," Moody muttered gruffly. They fell silent and continued their surveillance of the youngest Malfoy.

 _Hour 22_

Draco was sitting in one corner of his cell, knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped around them. He was cold, hungry and parched and being the son of Lucius Malfoy, it was far from what his life was like just a few days ago. In a span of three days, his life had spiraled from having house elves ready to serve his most ridiculous demands to pissing in the same room as a prisoner.

The creak of his cell door grabbed his attention and his eyes lit up in hope of leaving this accursed room.

"Mr. Malfoy," whispered a voice. "Come quickly!"

The urgency of the voice quickened Draco's heart rate. Had someone come to rescue him?! He stood up quickly but the sudden rush of blood sent him into a dizzy.

"Mr. Malfoy!" cried the voice in panic and quickly rushed in to help the weakened boy.

"Who are you?" Draco croaked, his voice hoarse from all the screaming he had done earlier.

"My name is Andrew Warlow," he said and put Draco's arm around his neck and dragged him out of the repugnant room.

Draco saw the still bodies of Moody and Jones outside and his lips curled in satisfaction. He wished he could stomp on their faces but this man just dragged him on in a hurry.

"Stop dragging me," he said, "I can walk."

"Hurry then, we haven't got much time," Andrew whispered as he led Draco through the labyrinth of corridors.

"Why are you helping me?" Draco asked quietly.

Andrew didn't reply and just kept walking fast until he reached the invisible exit. "Walk into the wall."

Draco gave him a curious look and hesitantly walked in the direction pointed out by the man. Stepping out into the sunlight caused him to gasp and shield his eyes from the sudden brightness.

"I'm helping you because I want out," Andrew said from behind him. "I'm helping you because I know what will happen to me if I continue siding with this old fool and I don't want to die. I've never fought a battle in my life and I don't intend to do so just because Dumbledore asks me to!"

"So what do you want me to do? The dark lord has sentenced me to death and if I go back that's exactly what will happen to me," he said bitterly.

"Not if you have valuable information," Andrew said. "This place is the order's headquarters. Now the entrance is hidden by the fidelius, you know that. But _this_ side is not and you can reveal this secret to anybody. You can't put the desert under the fidelius and using magic in the tomb is suicidal."

"I already know where we are," Draco sneered. "What good is this information to me when I already know it?"

"Tell the dark lord there are many who wish to change sides and earn his forgiveness," Andrew said. "And I think he'd also like to know that Dumbledore is sick."

That startled Draco.

"Yes," Andrew said sounding pleased. "Apparently he used some high level magic just recently and that has left him in a much weakened state. This is the perfect time to strike."

Draco paused and processed the information for a minute.

"The dark lord has an army. All he has to do in invade Beauxbaton and Dumbledore and his men will come crawling out," he said. Draco knew the information was valuable but he wanted more.

"You don't know this, but the muggle world is in shambles," Andrew said. "The dark lord has attacked already and it's only a matter of time before they all are dead."

Draco's eyes widened in shock and then a delighted look came upon his face.

"So now do we have a deal or not Malfoy!?" Andrew asked urgently. "It won't be long before they discover your escape and toss you back into that cell!"

"I accept," Draco said quickly. He had no desire to go through that horrible experience again. "But I don't know how to get there," he said worriedly.

Andrew had come prepared. "Here," he said, handing Draco a wand, a whistle and a roll of parchment. "The whistle is a portkey which will take you to the boundary of the ward the dark lord has put up. And the parchment contains a list of every man in Dumbledore's camp. But the real sweetener in this deal is this," he said, taking a deep breath.

"There's more?" Draco asked, his eyes glinting. The more information he had the more likely were his chances of staying alive.

"Tell the dark lord Harry Potter is the elemental he wants."

"What's an elemental?" Draco asked frowning. The term felt familiar but he couldn't remember why.

"Tell him that and you'll be guaranteed a spot in his inner circle."

Andrew placed his hand on Draco's shoulder. "Now go. My friends and I will be near the Eiffel tower everyday at noon waiting for someone to show up and take us to the dark lord."

"Thank you," Draco said, meaning every word. "You've just saved my life and I thank you," he said.

Andrew smiled. "Tap the whistle with the wand and say rescue."

Draco did as he was told and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Andrew stood still for a moment staring at the spot Draco has disappeared. "Do you think they'll let him live?" he asked, apparently to no one.

Dumbledore removed the cloak of invisibility that kept him hidden and said, "He won't kill him. Not after Voldemort hears what he has to say."

"I hope my acting was good enough to convince the dark lord when he looks into that boy's mind."

"You were brilliant Andrew," Dumbledore said. "Now go back to Hogwarts and wait in my office. I have to finish setting up the trap."

"Alright," Andrew said and quickly walked back through the doorway.

"So will you take the bait Tom?" Dumbledore murmured and then he drew his wand.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **London**

"My Lord."

"What is it Nott," Voldemort asked. He was engaged in a game of chess with the Count and didn't bother looking at the death eater. "As you can see I'm busy trying to beat someone with centuries of experience so this better be good."

The Count smirked, "What he means is, he hopes to beat me at the game but is losing anyway."

Nott didn't know whether he should speak or not. He wasn't sure if his master meant don't disturb him or yes go ahead and speak.

"Are you going to say anything Mr. Nott?" Voldemort asked testily.

"My Lord, we found Draco Malfoy outside the wards," he said quickly. "He says he has information for you and he escaped from Dumbledore."

Voldemort raised his head and focused on Nott. "Malfoy escaped from Dumbledore?" he said with a hint of incredulity.

'Yes My Lord," Nott said.

"Where is he?"

Nott turned back and nodded at one of the guards outside to bring him in.

A dirty and foul smelling Malfoy was pushed to the center of the room. "M-my Lord," he whimpered.

"Draco Malfoy. How bold of you to come back to me," Voldemort sneered.

"My Lord I have important information for you," Draco said. He didn't dare look into the dark lord's eyes and risk losing his nerve. His heart was pounding from the amount of fear that was coursing through his veins.

"Didn't you escape from _me_ Draco?" Voldemort asked instead. "And now you tell you escaped from your rescuers? You're not lying to me are you little Malfoy."

"Harry Potter rescued me," Draco said gulping. "Our enemies imprisoned me."

Voldemort froze. "What did you say?" he whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"P-potter interfered and took us from the arena my lord," he said quickly. Rescued was a bad word to use.

Draco and Blaise were rescued by an elemental, Voldemort thought quickly. Did that mean Harry Potter, the one in the prophecy, was an elemental?! A glance at the Count told him that the vampire had come to the same conclusion.

"Tell me all you know," Voldemort hissed.

"I... I was rescued by a man named Andrew Warlow," Draco said, not moving from his place on the floor. "He gave me this," He removed the roll of parchment from his robes and handed them to Nott, "He told me to tell you that there were many of them who wanted to join you. He said that they would be at the Eiffel tower at noon everyday and he also told me to tell you that Harry Potter is the elemental you want."

"My, my," the Count said. "If I had a beating heart it would be quite amazed to know that Harry Potter, the one who defeated you as an infant, is an elemental!"

"Quiet," Voldemort snapped. "Harry Potter, elemental or not, shall die by my wand and there's nothing in this world that can change that."

The Count wisely kept quiet.

"How do you know this isn't a trap set up by Dumbledore?" The Count asked Draco coldly.

"Dumbledore is sick my Lord," Draco said quickly. "He had been gone for a while and when he returned he was in a terribly weakened state."

It was at that moment that Lucius Malfoy walked into the throne room and stopped short at the sight of his son.

"Draco!" he gasped in shock.

"Do you have something to say Lucius," Voldemort interrupted dangerously. He wasn't in the mood for petty emotions surfacing in his men now.

Lucius somehow managed to reign in the impulse to rush to his son and hug him and turned to the dark lord. "My Lord, Hogwarts is lost," he said as calmly as possible, which was not calmly at all.

"What?"

"The wards have been reactivated and when I could not contact Mulciber I knew something was wrong."

Fear blossomed in him as the dark lord began to shake in anger and his wand slipped into his hand.

"That certainly gives young Draco's story a certain amount of credibility," the Count commented.

Voldemort remained silent and Draco looked at his father. Lucius heart broke when he saw the betrayal in Draco's eyes. But know he had his son back and he would never let him go no matter what the dark lord said.

Dumbledore was ill and Hogwarts was lost. Voldemort connected the dots quite easily and he was not pleased at the sudden turn of events at all. He knew he should have secured Hogwarts much more efficiently but he had been lax. His priorities had lain with bringing all the magical creatures under his thumb and thus had neglected to attend to Hogwarts and the knowledge that lay hidden there sooner.

"Draco Malfoy," Voldemort spoke finally.

"M-my Lord?"

Voldemort walked up to the kneeling Malfoy and lifted his chin. "Look into my eyes," he whispered and then Draco screamed. He continued to scream until the dark lord was done with him. The seconds in which Voldemort tore through his mind felt like a lifetime to Draco and when the dark lord let him go he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Lucius could only look on helplessly.

"Make ready the vampires and werewolves," he said coldly. "In a few hours it will be nightfall in the Egyptian desert and we are going to destroy Dumbledore's pitiful resistance and he is going to regret taking Hogwarts from me!"

In his fury, Voldemort had made his first mistake.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

"Has everyone been moved?" Sirius asked McGonagall.

"Almost," she replied stiffly. "We've turned all the classrooms into make shift living quarters for the muggles. Six people per classroom and the Gryffindor common room have been given to our students."

"Do we have enough room for everybody?"

"This is a magical castle Sirius," McGonagall said. "You should know better than most about how much room Hogwarts can provide."

"What about the students from Beauxbaton and their parents?"

"Rawenclaw and Hufflepuff common rooms have been given to them. Their teachers shall handle the organization and the staff quarters are being given out to the adults without families."

"That even I know won't be enough," Sirius said blandly.

"We're sharing," she said and Sirius snorted.

"I can't imagine you sharing a room with someone else," he said quickly, responding to her glare.

"This is war Sirius," she said sternly. "Comfort holds no meaning in war."

Sirius kept his mouth shut, chastened.

"Is Harry in the Slytherin common room or the Gryffindor?" he asked instead.

"All the students who wish to live in the common rooms have been moved to the Gryffindor common room. Dumbledore is remodeling the Slytherin common rooms for more people that we might rescue," she said.

"Harry wouldn't have liked that," he said smiling.

"No he didn't," she agreed, thinking back to the look she had gotten for even suggesting it to him. "He, in his sweetest voice, said that he had his own accommodations and refused to share a room with Gryffindorks."

"Ouch," Sirius said wincing.

"I swear that boy thinks power makes him untouchable to rules and authority!"

"Hmm, blame it on his upbringing," Sirius said darkly. "But for all intent and purposes he's no longer a boy and I think you know that too Minerva."

McGonagall sighed. "I never thought our world would end like this," she said heavily.

"It hasn't ended my dear Minerva," Dumbledore said walking over to them.

Minerva gasped and nearly cursed him. "Albus! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she literally snarled.

They were near the entrance to the castle keeping an eye on the proceedings. Order members were bringing in the survivors via portkey and guiding them inside the castle.

"We're still here and as long as we are, the world hasn't ended," he said gently.

"Sure doesn't feel like that," she said bitterly. "I mean look at everyone! What sort of fight do you expect then to give!?"

"If you give in to defeat, then Voldemort would have won. You know this," he reprimanded. "Don't give in Minerva. Don't lose that fighting spirit and hope."

The sight of a lynx patronus interrupted them. "Dumbledore, vampires and werewolves are portkeying into the desert by the hundreds. No sign of any death eaters or Voldemort. Waiting for your command," said the deep voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

At the same time the headmistress of Beauxbaton, Madame Maxime portkeyed into the grounds and her eyes searched for Dumbledore.

"Death eaters, along with an army of inferi are attacking the wards Dumbleedoor," she said after hurrying over to him.

The three waited with baited breathes for Dumbledore to say something.

This was it. It was finally their turn to retaliate.

"Dumbledore?" Sirius said hesitantly. What was Albus waiting for!?

" _Expecto Partonum,"_ whispered Dumbledore and a majestic phoenix burst out of his wand and disappeared in an instant. "Kingsley has the green light and I suggest you activate the rune Madame," he said grimly.

The half giant woman removed a rune from her robes and tapped in with her wand. The rune pulsed, emitting a white light, and a second later it disintegrated.

Miles away a school was eradicated in a colossal explosion.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **London**

The air was filled with the suffocating pressure of Voldemort's magic as paced up and down. The Count could feel Voldemort's fury at the loss of Hogwarts.

"Are you sure this is wise Voldemort," the Count asked. "This could very well be an elaborate trap set up by Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore would not let Draco escape and nor would he allow him to be imprisoned the way he was," Voldemort said. "Draco's imprisonment has Alastor Moody's fingerprints all over it and the only way Dumbledore would allow such treatment was if he were incapable of stopping it. I know the man and trust me when I say this. _His feeble heart rules his actions!_ " It was impossible to even consider that Albus Dumbledore would ever change his methods.

He sneered as he thought about the fool's forgiving nature.

"No, Draco escaped with a help of traitor among them and I saw no lie in Draco's mind. Their hideout has a weak point and that was revealed to me. I could not find where the entrance to their hideout lies but the exit, no matter how well hidden, was easy to find. With the instructions I gave to your kind they should have no trouble finding it."

The Count didn't argue the case further.

"We are sending two groups of vampires and werewolves to the desert and inferi to Beauxbaton," Voldemort said. "No one of importance is leading the groups so you can stop worrying about our losses if it is a trap."

"I was under the impression that you stopped using dark magic," The Count said frowning.

Voldemort waved his hand dismissively. "Creations of the past and they are not under my control."

 _Beauxbaton_

"Quickly, bring down the wards!" shouted Doyle. Three death eaters had been given the task of bring the wards down with the items their lord had given them. Three stones were to be placed twenty feet apart at the boundary of the wards and then a spell was to follow.

"Are you ready," Doyle yelled in panic. "The inferi are almost here!"

Far behind them, Bellatrix Lestrange laughed manically as she guided the un-dead. "If those morons don't bring down the wards in the next ten seconds they're going to get eaten alive!" Her eyes shone eagerly hoping they failed.

She saw the wards suddenly crackle with energy and she pouted in disappointment. A second later she had to shield her eyes as the sky turned pure white. The faint sound of an explosion followed and she felt a moment of weightlessness and then she knew no more.

When Bellatrix awoke she groaned out loud. Her body felt like a herd of hippogriffs had just run over her. Somehow she got to her feet ignoring the screaming protest of her body. Her eyes widened as she beheld the destruction in front of her.

A massive crater lay where Beauxbaton once stood. The death eaters and two hundred inferi following them were nowhere to be seen. Probably turned to ash, she thought in shock. If it weren't for her distance she would have been dead. Her eyes narrowed in anger as her mind processed what her eyes were seeing.

Dumbledore had set a lethal trap. Dumbledore; a campaigner of non violence had set a lethal trap!

.

.

.

Far out in the desert Kingsley Shacklebolt was glued to his omnioculars and waited patiently as the massive army of roaring werewolves, and vampires driven by blood lust crossed over the invisible boundary Dumbledore had made. He counted at least a hundred of them and shuddered to think how many more Voldemort had created.

As soon as most of them were over the boundary he took a deep breath and leveled his wand at a rune glowing dimly in the distance. " _Pulsus,"_ he whispered and as soon as he knew his spell was on target he activated his portkey. He had no desire to get caught up in the explosion.

However because of his quick retreat he missed the magnificent sliver flames that exploded all around the creatures sending them into agonizing pain. He missed watching them roll in the sand scratching at their skin as it was slowly torn apart. He missed the second explosion that rocked the pyramid causing the thousands of year old wards to implode. And when everything settled and all that remained were the charred remains of vile creatures he didn't see the spectre rise out of the remains of the tomb.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

He knew he shouldn't feel happy at the news but he did. Was it wrong that the incineration of couple hundred vampires and werewolves who most likely been turned into creatures they never would have even thought existed against their will? He knew they were most likely muggles who had been turned.

But it simply brought a smile on his face to imagine what Voldemort looked like right about now! Dumbledore had turned from a senile good-natured good intending and forgiving old man into a... ... ... he didn't how to put it but watching him strategize was, he didn't want to say it, it was intimidating. He didn't know what it was but the vibe Dumbledore was giving out was something to fear.

Suddenly he realized what exactly made dark lords fear Albus Dumbledore. He also realized that if he were to duel with this man now he would definitely lose.

The serious look on his face as he walked in the corridors of Hogwarts turned into a grin as he came to the conclusion this was a perfect time to duel with the headmaster.

"This is going to be great," he chuckled. The elemental in him was craving for blood.

Harry was ready to turn back and challenge the headmaster but then his eyes came upon a very, very strange sight.

"What the hell?" he muttered squinting.

He saw a girl coming towards him and there was nothing normal about the way she did.

Long bleach blonde hair reaching her knees, white robes which were glowing in the moon light streaming through the windows and the weirdest part of it all was that she was hopping on one foot with her arms stretched out and on top of it all she was continuously rotating as she moved.

Harry stood frozen, gaping at the girl. The girl came to a halt in front of him but continued to rotate. "Harry Potter," she said, her voice soft and dreamy. "Do you mind moving aside so I can continue my absorption of the flufflerbees?"

"Huh?" Harry said. "Flufflerbees?"

The girl nodded.

Harry was getting dizzy by just looking at her rotate. "Who are you?" he asked finally.

The sighed and stopped. "Strange," she muttered her grey eyes peering into his green.

There was something very wrong about this girl Harry thought. Looking into her eyes was like looking into a thick fog.

"Err... are you alright?"

"My name's Luna Lovegood," she said. "I thought you would know that seeing as you just took me to professor Slughorn's party."

"Huh?"

Luna sighed in disappointment. "Never mind," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, the flufflerbees need to be absorbed."

"Flufflerbees?"

Luna sighed again. "Didn't we talk about this just a few hours back Harry? Ginny and you must accept that your children attract flufflerbees just like nargles attract pixies."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa, whoa hold up you! Ginny? Children!?"

Luna frowned again, "Are you sure you want me Harry?"

"Huh?" Harry was getting increasingly frustrated by this girl. "Luna or whatever your name is, I swear if you don't start using words I understand..."

His words died in his throat when Luna moved into his personal space and planted a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Yes Harry," she whispered her eyes shining with joy.

Harry stumbled away from her, his eyes wide with shock. "W-what the hell are you doing!" he spluttered.

Luna started to blink rapidly for a few seconds before stopping and looking around in slight confusion. She then spotted Harry in front of her and giggled at the look on his face. "You're Harry Potter aren't you?" she said.

"You're barmy," Harry said, his eyes wide. "Insane!"

"That's quite rude," Luna said. "Is that something you say to someone you've never met before?"

Harry was beginning to get a headache. "Listen girl," he said angrily. "You've been talking gibberish all this time and then you kiss me and then you say _I'm rude!?"_

Luna frowned again before her eyes lit up in comprehension. "That was because of the flufflerbees," she explained. "Hogwarts is suddenly infested with them and absorbing them can have wonderful effects on you."

"What in Merlin's name are flufflerbees?!" he asked rubbing his forehead.

"Oh my!" Luna gasped suddenly.

"What!?"

"It was nice to meet you Harry," she said warmly, "But the nargles are moving in and I must stop them from scaring the flufflerbees." She then moved past him, stretched out her arms and began to hop forward and rotate.

Harry just stared at her retreating back completely bewildered. When she disappeared around the next bend in the corridor Harry convinced himself what he just saw was his mind playing tricks on him.

"A moment of madness," he muttered shaking his head. "Yep, that's what it was."

He forgot all about challenging Dumbledore to a duel and in a slight daze he made his way to the Gryffindor tower.

"Cherries," he said clearly to the fat lady.

"Letting Slytherin's in the Gryffindor common room," she muttered. "Oh Godric, where art thou!?" she said dramatically.

"Oh shut up and open up," Harry said rolling his eyes earning a glare from the portrait. The fat lady turned her nose up and the portrait swung open.

Harry climbed in and immediately felt uncomfortable at the warmth radiating from the common room.

Silence fell in the common room when his presence was noticed. He recognized many students of Hogwarts and was pleased to see that so many of them were alive after London was burnt down.

"What are you doing here?"

The irritatingly familiar voice of Ron snapped him out of his daze and he frowned at the Weasley.

"I'm looking for Lillian," he said coolly, waiting for the usual hostilities that accompanied.

"I'll ask Hermione to call her," he said indifferently which surprised Harry.

His surprise must have shown. "We're all on the same side now," he said and stood up to look for Hermione.

Harry noticed the back of his neck was red and smirked. It must have taken a lot to convince Weasley he wasn't evil incarnate.

He waited and felt uncomfortable at the number of stares he was getting. There were some parents with their children and Harry could discern various stares of awe, fear and curiosity.

Looks like my reputation is spreading, he thought dryly. He saw a parent whispering her eight year old child's ear. No doubt warning him about me, he thought and for a moment had an urge to go and say 'boo!' He resisted and simply chose to wait quietly.

"Hey," Lillian said brightly coming down from the staircase to the girls dormitory.

Harry's heart thumped against his ribs when he saw her. She had just showered and her hair was still wet and for some reason it caused some strange feeling to bubble in him.

He quickly squashed those weird feelings and smiled back.

"What is it?" she asked.

He leaned in and the feeling that had just hit Harry hit Lillian hard. She held her breath as Harry leaned in towards her.

What was he doing?! Her mind screamed at her. But instead Harry just whispered in her ear. "We just had a meeting and I thought you'd want to know what happened."

Lillian exhaled. What was that? she wondered. Lillian glanced behind and saw Ron and Hermione looking at her curiously. "Can they come?" she asked gesturing at her friends.

The 'No' that came out of Harry was almost instantaneous. It was like a reflex.

Lillian looked annoyed.

"But they can come if they can keep their mouths shut," he added quickly and then frowned. Why was he agreeing?

"Come on," he said heading out of the common room. He kept a sharp look out for that Luna girl. He had no intention of running into her again.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked.

"Outside," Harry replied. "I need some fresh air."

"So we're not going to some secret hideout of yours?" Ron said. Harry detected disappointment in the red heads voice and smirked.

"No Weasley. We're just going out," he said.

Lillian smiled. She felt tempted to mention Harry's secret room but she knew he'd never forgive her if he did.

"Are the rumors about you true?" Hermione asked suddenly, struggling to keep up with Harry and Ron.

Both males had experienced a growth spurt and Harry now stood at a 5'7'' while Ron was the tallest among them reaching a height of 5'9''. Lillian was next standing at 5'6'' compared to Hermione who was the shortest among them standing at 5'4''.

"What sort of rumors have you heard?" he asked her curiously.

"Hermione, you know better than to believe rumors!" Lillian huffed.

"That's why I'm asking him," she retorted.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"They're saying that you're a cold-blooded killer and you've killed over a hundred people and a dragon," Hermione said hurriedly. She was a little afraid of angering the Potter. "Also that on every mission you've gone, you've not spared a single death eater, that you defeated Dumbledore in a duel and that you..." she reddened, "That you don't have a heart, but of course that's impossible."

Harry laughed.

It didn't escape Hermione notice that Lillian didn't and that told her a lot.

"Well?" demanded Ron.

"Ease up Weasley," Harry said snorting. "I do have a heart Granger," was all he said.

Hermione gasped.

"Are you saying you defeated Dumbledore?!" Ron said incredulously.

"Yes I did," Harry said. "But you should know that Dumbledore was holding back. If it were a real duel I wouldn't have lasted more than a minute. Dumbledore is an incredible wizard."

The three Gryffindors stared at him in awe.

"What about the dragon and the killings?" Hermione whispered.

"Freckles, you want to answer that?" he said nonchalantly.

Hermione and Ron's eyes swiveled towards Lillian.

"Don't call me Freckles," she said half-heartedly.

"Mary?"

Lillian sighed. She hadn't told her friends about a lot of things. "Harry, Dumbledore and I defeated the Dragon but it was Harry who delivered the final blow," she said.

Ron stared at Lillian in awe. "You beat a dragon?" He was beginning to see his friend in a whole new light. How powerful was she?

"And yes I did kill a lot of death eaters on that day," Harry said grimly. "Additionally I've gone only on four missions. One was to infiltrate London, one you know about and the other two were to rescue muggles survivors whose villages or towns had been ravaged by werewolves and vampires."

"So what have you been doing all this while?" Ron asked. "It's been months and you're never to be seen around!"

"Training," Harry replied shortly. Learning occlumency had put a new perspective on his definition of a near impossible task.

They reached the great hall and Harry led them to the edge of the lake. Hermione and Ron continued to quiz Lillian but he had tuned them out.

It was strange, he thought. Before this war began he wouldn't have even entertained the idea of conversing with Weasley and Granger but now it didn't bother him at all. After what he had seen and done having petty quarrels with them seemed so pointless and it seemed the effect of the war had finally hit Weasley too. He no longer had that look of hatred in his eyes when he saw him anymore.

They only thing that mattered to Harry now was war.

He sighed and sat crossed legged at the edge of the lake. The other three followed his lead and sat in front of him.

It was peaceful, Harry thought. The moon was beginning to rise over the forest and the only other sounds they could hear was the lake rippling against the shore and a cricket whistling nearby.

"What do you two know?" he asked, looking at Ron and Hermione.

"Nothing," Ron said bitterly. "All we know is that Dumbledore reclaimed Hogwarts and because of something _you know who_ did, we had to leave Beauxbaton."

"Voldemort made every nuclear power plant in the world meltdown," Harry said.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth while Ron didn't understand.

"Ron, imagine clouds of deadly poison covering half the world," she said, her voice reflecting her horror.

"Weasley, in simple words, Voldemort just condemned half the world's muggle population to death," he said stoically. "Voldemort blindsided us with the threat of nuclear weapons and in an instant took away the muggles most important source of survival."

"It wasn't just nuclear power plants," Lillian added dully. "Dams were blown to bits, major power plants all across the globe were destroyed..." She couldn't go on.

"The world is covered in a cloud of radioactive poison and they have no electricity," Harry finished. "Thousands of muggles are dying as we speak and we can do nothing about it."

"What about the countries without nuclear capabilities?" Hermione asked. "Surely they're safe! Aren't we doing anything to protect them!?"

"What can we do Granger?" Harry said sharply. "We don't have an army, we don't have enough resources to sustain the amount of people we have in Hogwarts and Voldemort still has the nuclear weapons. Plus the countries you speak of have been experiencing a series of what they call terrorist attacks. Their governments are too crippled to do anything."

"But!"

"Hermione," Lillian said gently, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder to calm her down. She then turned to Harry. "Did Dumbledore's plan work?"

Harry smiled dangerously. "We got them alright. I saw Kingsley and Diggles memory of the aftermath and I wish I was there to see it."

"What plan?" Ron and Hermione asked at the same time.

Harry thought about whether he should tell them or not and then decided against it. Even if they were safe here Warlow's cover had to be protected to the maximum extent. Even Lillian didn't know about Warlow.

Andrew Warlow was a pure-blood and had graduated from Hogwarts along with Lucius Malfoy. Although he was against the dark lord in every form, he had made sure never to reveal that sentiment to his fellow Slytherin friends who served the dark lord. Through a combination of wealth and cunning he had managed to stay away from the first war. He was the perfect undercover agent.

To make his cover perfect Dumbledore had modified his memories and locked up the knowledge of him being a spy and his awareness about the plan deep within his mind. It would take a month for the spell Dumbledore had woven in his mind to unravel and until then Warlow was going to be the perfect follower of Voldemort.

This was an important part of the plan to let Draco escape. There were glaring flaws in the plan like how could a trap be set up if Draco wasn't let out on purpose but if Dumbledore's memory charms were as advanced and air tight as he hoped them to be then it would be obvious that Warlow had no idea about it and that someone had discovered his betrayal and informed the resistance.

A lot banked upon how forgiving or understanding Voldemort was going to be. They knew it was very likely he could be killed but this was a risk they had to take.

"Harry?"

"You don't need to know," Harry said finally.

"But!" Hermione protested.

"No," Harry said sharply. "There are some things that you can't know and I think I've said enough."

"What is Dumbledore doing now?" Lillian asked quickly. She didn't want an argument to ruin this truce that they had going.

Harry glared at the bushy haired girl and then turned to Lillian. "Looking for muggles."

"I thought we were already doing that," Ron said smartly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Not just any muggle but scientists, teachers, engineers, plumbers... we're looking for muggle survivors with certain skills."

"Why?" Lillian asked confused. "Shouldn't we be saving any survivor we come across!?"

"Knowledge," Hermione said, comprehension dawning upon her.

"Correct," Harry said pleased to see that her brain was as sharp as ever. "If we have to help the muggles rebuild then we need people will the knowledge and skill to do so. Magic cannot solve everything."

"That's smart," Ron said slowly.

"Of course it is," Harry retorted.

Ron scowled and Lillian hurriedly interrupted again, "So any new mission for you?"

Harry paused, glanced at the other two before his eyes flicked back to Lillian.

She understood.

"You mind excusing us guys?" she said apologetically.

Hermione looked like she wanted to protest but Ron abruptly stood up and dragged her away.

"Dwarves," he said simply.

"Dwarves?"

"Dumbledore has an interesting theory about those gargantuan dragons," he said in a low voice.

"And?"

"According to wizard lore, dragons were the guardians to the gates of the dwarfish kingdoms. Dumbledore hypothesized that if the dragons are real then the dwarves could exist too and he's worried that if Voldemort could find and enslave a free dragon then he could very well find the dwarves and recruit them into his army."

Lillian frowned. "Let me get this straight. Dwarves could be real and these free dragons are the guardians to the gates of their kingdoms which, by the way, are supposed to be a myth?"

Harry nodded. "Dumbledore has been doing extensive research and there isn't much text about them. The only thing that we could find on them was in fairy tales which is where the myth of free dragons also came from."

"And Voldemort found the dragons," Lillian said in understanding. "So what now? Are you going to search for them!?" she said in shock. "Dumbledore wants to send you on a mission to find these dragons and then find the dwarves who most likely don't even exist!? Do you even remember what destruction just one dragon brought about and he wants you to go and face a bunch of them?"

"Are you insane!?" she burst out.

Ron and Hermione heard that had looked at the pair with curiosity burning in their eyes.

"Of course not," Harry snapped. "It's just a theory so far and nothing more. We need to do more research into the matter and we have more pressing matters to be concerned about."

Lillian let out a sigh of relief. "Good," she mumbled. Silence fell upon them and after a while Lillian went to join her friends.

Harry's mind wandered to Warlow. A lot depended on him now. The three Gryffindor's left after a while, not wanting to worry Mrs. Weasley and earn an ear shattering dress down.

His eyes focused on the rising moon and suddenly something clicked in his mind.

"Lovegood," he murmured. "Wasn't that the name of the woman who stumbled upon Flamel's dimensional gate?"

His mind flashed back to his encounter with Luna Lovegood and her odd ramblings when it all fit into place.

"Holy mother of Merlin!" he gasped. Dumbledore would want to know about this!


	50. Part 2 - Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Exposure**

"Move you feet! Come on, surely you can do better!"

" _Expelliarmus_!" Blaise shouted, rolling on the floor and taking cover behind the desks. Lupin bounced the spell back at the boy.

" _P-protego_!" Blaise said but it was too late. His slight hesitation cost him and his wand was neatly ripped out his hand.

Blaise swore loudly at his third straight loss.

"Keep the mouth clean, Blaise," Lupin said chuckling. "You're improving but your moments are still slow. You're still young and your magic is not strong enough to use stronger spells so if you find yourself in a duel you have to make the best of what you have around you."

"How am I supposed to win if I don't learn stronger spells?" Blaise asked angrily, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Lupin snorted. "Is that what you think we're doing here?"

"I told you I want to learn how to fight," Blaise said.

"And I clearly remember telling you that you can't," Lupin retorted. "You're fourteen and…"

"Fifteen," Blaise corrected. "I turned fifteen in March."

"Alright," Lupin acquiesced. "You're fifteen and no matter how hard you practice you're not going to be a match for a death eater or a vampire or a werewolf. The reason I'm teaching you how to duel is so that you can learn to escape quickly and safely if that time ever comes."

"Harry's fourteen," Blaise retorted even though he knew about Harry's powers. He was just in a terribly angsty mood.

"Harry can wipe the floor with me," Lupin shot back.

"I can learn do that too," Blaise sneered.

"Well I'd to see you try," Lupin said smirking and spread his arms taunting Blaise. "Come Mr. Zabini. Show me that you have what it takes to fight off awizard!"

" _Depulso!"_ Blaise yelled, banishing the desk towards Lupin. " _Expulso."_ And the desk exploded in front of Lupin.

Blaise thought he had him but Lupin a blue shield shimmering in front of him and was smirking. He ran across the room taking cover behind the furniture and started to cast stunning spells at the werewolf while constantly staying on the move.

Lupin didn't retaliate but he kept dodging the curses with ease. "Is this all you got!" he laughed out loud.

Blaise's anger levels spiked and one by one he began to banish all the furniture in the room towards Lupin hoping to get an opening to stun the werewolf. His anger grew even Lupin just stopped them in mid air and sent them flying to the corners of the room.

"Come on Blaise," he taunted. "Did you know that Ron gave me a better workout than you?!"

Blaise's eyes widened at that. Weasley was better than him?! "No bloody way," he growled and aimed for the werewolf's feet and shouted, " _Confringo!"_

The floor exploded with the force of a bomb and Blaise felt waves of exhaustion attack his body. He had never experienced such a drain on his magic before.

"Now that's what I call a full powered exploding hex," Lupin said from behind him.

Blaise turned around sharply but everything started to spin.

"Easy there kid," Lupin said gently and grabbed on to the boy's shoulder. "You used up a lot of your magic to power that spell. You need to rest now or you're going to pass out."

"I can't believe you said Weasley was better than me," Blaise muttered.

"He's not," Lupin chuckled. "You're all novices at this and from my point of view; all of you are pathetic duelers." Lupin removed a vial of pepper up potion and handed it to the boy.

Blaise glared at him and downed the vial grudgingly. Instantly he felt his energy return to him.

"But there's a lot of potential for growth," he added smiling warmly.

The door burst open and Hermione and Ron came skidding to a halt. "Professor!" Hermione cried out. "Sorry we're late."

"It's alright," Lupin said. "But you two are not helping me keep the high opinion that I hold of you."

Ron stared at his toes embarrassed. "It was my mother," he explained. "She wants us to stay in the dorms and study." He said 'study' like it were some terrible disease.

"We're really sorry professor," Hermione said, "But it's true. Mrs. Weasley refuses to let us learn how to duel!"

Lupin frowned. It was being increasingly difficult to manage the bouts of hysterical screaming of Mrs. Weasley and her influence over the rest of the mothers was worrisome too. He had spoken to Arthur about it but the man had just shrugged and said, "She don't mean any harm. She just cares too much." Lupin had been tempted to tell him her good intentions were not just the path to hell but she was already there.

"Professor?" Hermione called hesitantly.

"I'll have Sirius take care of your mother," he said finally. Somebody had to convince that woman that mollycoddling her children and forcing the others to do the same was not helping their cause. If the children were ever exposed to an attack they needed to know how to defend themselves and Sirius was the perfect man to tackle a stubborn mother. He had successfully infuriated his own mother and charmed James's mother into letting them go to a muggle strip club!

Remus chuckled at that memory and the three children looked at the man strangely.

"Sorry," Lupin apologized. "I let my mind wander."

"Anyway!" he said clapping his hands. "Are you feeling alright for another round Blaise?"

"Zabini?" Ron said in surprise. "What is he doing here!?"

"Same as you Weasley," Blaise said dryly.

"Aren't you supposed to be kissing 'you know who's' arse?" he spat.

"Ah, it seems like you haven't been informed," Remus said.

"Nothing new there," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"Well?" Ron demanded.

"None of your concern Weasel," Blaise sneered. "I doubt that miniscule brain of yours could process anything remotely related to an intelligent conversation."

"What has intelligence got to do with why you are here," Ron said hotly.

"Explaining why I am here requires an intelligent mind to understand and seeing as there are only two here I fail to see why I have to explain myself to you of all people."

"If you two are done making fools out of yourselves maybe you'd want to remember why exactly you're here?" Lupin said acidly.

Ron and Blaise glared at each other one last time and put on their best fake apologetic face. "Sorry professor."

"Now on the platform all three of you," he barked. "Today I'm going to teach you how to rebound spells or deflect them."

Hermione frowned. "But sir, we know how to do that. We've almost perfected the shield charm."

Lupin smiled. "And I praise you for that Ms. Granger but this particular spell, you'll not find in any book that you read and if I were going to teach you the shield charm then I would have said shield not deflect. For your benefit I shall show you the difference but before that." Lupin concentrated and whispered, " _expecto patronum."_

"Whom did you send a message to?" Blaise asked curiously.

"You'll see," Lupin said, "Now listen up. To deflect a curse the first thing you need to know is how to recognize curses the moment they leave your opponents wand. The next step is to repeat the incantation silently in your mind and thirdly and most importantly, can you guess it?"

"Deflect it?" Ron asked.

Blaise and Hermione rolled their eyes.

"Some added incantation?" Hermione said tentatively.

"Close," Lupin said grinning. "You rotate your wrist like this and add a sharp upward flick at the time of deflection," he said showing them the moment, "and the power you put into your spell _must_ be more than your opponents."

"If we don't?" Blaise asked.

"You won't be able to deflect it," Lupin said grimly. "This particular spell is very difficult to master and it is even more difficult to use in battle. That is why you'd rarely find a mention of it any book Ms. Granger. This is auror level magic and I don't expect anyone of you to master it anytime soon."

"Then why tell us to learn it?" Ron said scowling. "There's no point!"

"The point is that as a byproduct of attempting to master this spell you'll master silent casting, recognizing spells and the speed at which your brain processes data in a duel will improve tremendously," he said solemnly. "We are past simple dueling lessons kids. From now on I expect you to give these lessons everything you got and more."

"Sir, how come none of the other students are learning about dueling," Hermione asked. "I mean, it's important for their survival too right?"

"Professor Flitwick is teaching the older students," Lupin replied. "Filius is a master of dueling and all the sixth and seventh year students that we have are going to him for lessons."

"Then why are we here?" Ron asked confused. "I mean, wouldn't it be better if we learn from him too?"

"You are here because your basics are abysmal and none of you would be able to keep up with Flitwick's lessons," Lupin said sharply. "Now repeat after me," he said, showing them the wrist moments once more."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Headmaster's Office**

"What's our next move going to be Mr. Dumbledore," asked General Casey. He was a tall man in his late fifties. His hair line was receding rapidly but still held its luster. The lines on his hard face did nothing to highlight his age but instead made him look tougher and meaner.

"We wait for Warlow's memory charms to disintegrate and for him to complete his mission," Dumbledore said distantly as he stroked Fawkes plumage.

General Casey had become their liaison between the muggle army and the wizards after they had found Cane with a bullet sized hole in his skull. The politician had ended his life after the meltdown. The General had been forced to leave the fleet of aircraft carriers he was commanding and take up residence at Hogwarts.

The general sighed and pulled out a bunch of photographs from a folder he was carrying. "This is what the world looks like right now," he said. "Martial law is in effect in pretty much every part of the world that still has some form of government and from what I hear the governments in the Middle East have just been taken over by extremists. There has been a lot of chatter about war in the Asian region and there's no one to stop them from doing anything foolish."

"They are not listening to us," Dumbledore said tiredly. "The destruction of the United States has presented many surviving countries with an opportunity to further their own interests instead of recognizing the deep danger that they are in. It's only now that we realize how important the US was to world peace."

"They were also instrumental in many war's that have plagued this world Dumbledore," Casey retorted.

Dumbledore just hummed. "Great power comes with great responsibility," he said grimly.

Casey and Harry snorted.

"You're quoting Peter Parkers grandfather," Casey said in amusement.

Dumbledore frowned. "Who?"

"Never mind that," Snape said impatiently. "We just received news from Patil that the Indian wizards are systematically placing several plots of land under a spell similar to the fidelius and are protecting their wealth. When I asked them about the government's lack of action he just laughed and told me not to bother with the politicians."

"Wealth?" Harry murmured in disgust. "They're worried about gold?"

"Knowledge Mr. Potter," Snape said tapping his temple. "I thought you'd know that."

"Politicians," Casey spat. "The most selfish and greedy individuals I've had the displeasure of interacting with. They're all the same no matter which continent they hail from."

"Mr. Patil is acting as our contact to the Asian magical community," Dumbledore said.

"The Patil twins father?" Harry asked.

"Yes. He has agreed to coordinate with us and they have a group of individuals focused on keeping track of any signs of nuclear weapons."

"The major Indian and Chinese cities suffered a lot because of the meltdowns but somehow they are still functioning and the fact that we were able to stop the meltdown in Pakistan has created some incredible tensions in that area," Dumbledore said grimly.

"We got the same Intel," Casey said gruffly. "There's some intense political chaos going on over there. But in the background, their intelligence agencies are working hard to protect their countries from imminent attacks."

"Are they going to war?" Harry asked.

"Not yet and if they keep their wits and senses they won't."

"So that means so far we've seen almost total disaster in the US, Europe, major parts of Russia and Japan," Harry said. "The Middle East has a revolution going on which is going to result in more deaths and South East Asia is dealing with the disaster in the best way they can but things could fall to pieces at any moment. It seems that South America, Australia and Africa are the only continents that have been relatively unharmed."

"Except for the total economic destruction of all the countries," Casey said dryly. "It's a survival game now kid and when a human being has a desire to survive empathy is far from their thoughts. With radioactive clouds engulfing the skies and countries unable to provide for their people anarchy is only solution. All we can do now is wait for the violence to break out and then wait for it to settle."

"Don't call me kid," Harry warned. "And that's not a solution at all. What we have to do is create safe zones wherever we can. Warded and well supplies fortress to keep the muggles safe."

"A noble thought Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, "One which we've discussed a lot but right now we are building our strength. If Voldemort gets wind of our activities outside Hogwarts you can take it for granted that they'll be an army of dark creature's right behind us."

"What about the survivors in nuclear dominated countries?" Harry asked. "I'm sure there are some areas which were unaffected and we will most definitely find survivors there."

"Our satellites are still working on that," Casey said. "The military and navy that survived have joined our forces but so far there's nothing they can do but hide and survive. The depleting food reserves might force them to dock their battle ships somewhere soon."

"Don't worry about that General," Dumbledore said. "We have our elves working on building food supply and we'll ensure that your men are provided with enough."

"What is your man Warlow's main objective?" Casey asked Dumbledore.

Snape answered that query. "Find the source that is powering the wards around London and provide a proper evaluation of Voldemort's army."

"A ward that massive always has something powering it," Dumbledore explained. "And if we can find and destroy it, we can rain him with every weapon we've got."

"Well let's hope this Warlow succeeds," Casey said gruffly. "And even if we do manage to destroy this damn dark lord of yours the world is still piled with mountains of shit to clear."

Someone knocked on the door distracting the four.

"Ah, come in Mr. Croaker."

The man of mysteries, the head of the unspeakables walked in.

"Any progress made with the muggle scientists?" Dumbledore asked the man.

Croaker conjured an arm chair much to the general's shock. He was still getting used to watching wizards and witches use magic to do the impossible.

"Men of science verses men of magic," Croaker said tiredly. His eyes shone with exhaustion. "I've spent the better part of two days breaking up fights and arguments."

His eyes flickered to Harry and a disapproving look came upon him. "What's Potter doing here?"

"I invited him here," Dumbledore said smiling. He knew that Harry's presence in these meetings annoyed a lot of adults but it was important to have him present. The General and his people along with a number of wizards had to learn to bury their ego and adapt to situations where wizards or witches younger than them could take command.

"Have your men found anything more on the dwarves and dragons?" Harry asked, purposefully letting his magic loose. He enjoyed the feeling of superiority when it came to magical strength. It was the only way people like Croaker would respect and acknowledge him.

Croaker scowled at Harry and ignored the drop in temperature. "Nothing so far," he replied stiffly. "When we do find something you'll be the first to know."

A parakeet patronus startled the occupants of the room and it made its way to Harry.

It was from Lupin. " _Harry, do you mind coming to the dueling room?_ "

Harry turned to Dumbledore who nodded. "You're not needed at the moment," he said.

Harry ignored the smirk on Croakers ugly face and left.

"Well?" Casey asked Croaker. "Any progress?"

"None," Croaker replied heavily. "Mixing magic and muggle science is dangerous business. We've had to deal with a couple of explosions already and Merlin knows how many are around the corner."

"Keep at it," Casey grunted.

"In the mean time the first batch of silver bullets are ready," Croaker added. "If the dark lord decides to send his beasts on a killing spree, we'll be ready for them."

"The portkeys are ready too," Snape said.

"How many locations," Dumbledore asked.

"A lot," Snape replied dryly. "Most of them are charmed towards the more populated regions."

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair frowning pensively. "Severus, go with the general and acquaint his men with the darker and dangerous aspects of magic. They need to know what to expect."

"Before we do that let's have a look at the map you were working on," Casey said.

Dumbledore nodded and tapped his wand on his desk. A moment later a holographic map of the entire world marked with location of Voldemort, Hogwarts, the muggle army, the densely populated regions, the regions decimated by the nuclear clouds; everything was reflected on the map.

"That's a lot of navy in the pacific," Snape said dryly.

"Even we get our opening, Voldemort is going to regret destroying our world," Casey growled.

All they needed was a stroke of luck.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry had to duck as a stinging hex came zooming towards him as soon as he entered the room. In a flash he has his wand out and the curse was bounced back in the direction it came from. He recognized the cry of pain that followed.

"Blaise?" he said incredulously.

"Oww," moaned Blaise. "Why did you do that? I was so close to taking out Granger!"

Harry's interruption had paused their duel. Ron's hair looked like it had been singed by fire; Hermione had some scratches and cuts on her knees; Blaise, on the other hand, looked the worse.

"Nice black eyes there buddy," Harry commented.

"Admire this bruise on my arm too," he said tiredly. "Courtesy of you," he added.

Harry bowed, "My pleasure." His eyes, trained to spot details noticed the dirty shirt, torn pants, cuts on his legs and face. "Looks like it was two on one," he stated.

Blaise shrugged, "More practice for me."

"Harry, so glad you could come," Remus said, his perpetually tired eyes reflecting calculated happiness.

"Why did you cal me?" he asked.

"I want the three of them to take on you."

"What? No!" Harry said; his mood dropping.

"Before you give me your usual reasons, let you give mine," Remus said quickly.

Harry frowned and folded his arms.

"Dueling someone of their own age group will show these three why we don't want them to get involved in anything beyond these walls."

"Err… professor. We already know Harry can kick our arses," Blaise said dryly.

"If the three of you together cannot beat him, then you have no right to demand answers about the war and you can forget about even trying to participate in it," Lupin said. "You've had the same level of education and attended the same number of classes so technically you're at his level aren't you?"

"Not at all!"

"Well that's the argument Weasley tried to pull with Sirius," Lupin said.

Harry laughed. "Are you serious Weasley?"

"It's true," Hermione mumbled. "We can help."

Harry and Lupin exchanged glances and now Harry understood why he had been called.

"I don't want to duel him," Blaise said immediately. "I know about his powers and I don't want them directed at me."

"Calm down," Lupin said.

"We can take him," Ron said confidently.

"Provided he doesn't use his element," Hermione said warily.

"You think the three of you can take me?" Harry scoffed.

"Without your element you're on the same level as us."

"Granger, I've been studying beyond our school syllabus since first year! Even without my element I can sweep the trash with you."

"So have I," Hermione shot back.

"Don't insult us," Ron said angrily. "We've been training hard too. Maybe we can't beat you but we can definitely give you a hard time."

"I can beat the three of you with my hands tied behind my back," Harry said, looking at Ron with superiority. It was superiority backed with the confidence and skill to prove it.

"Deal!" announced Blaise happily. "Harry, with his hands tied up versus the three of us."

Three heads swiveled towards Remus questioningly while the fourth just rolled his eyes.

"Harry?"

"Deal," Harry said with a predatory look in his eye.

Lupin smiled and black ropes flew out his wand and snapped themselves on Harry's wrist and forced them behind his back.

"On three?" he asked lightly.

"Three!" shouted Lupin and immediately backed away to his protective corner.

From one of the room, three wands began to go through the motions of different hexes as fast as they could. On the other side Harry started to run towards the three.

It was over in matter of seconds. He didn't use his element or his magically enhanced speed and not even his wand less capabilities.

A dash towards Ronald; a slick diagonal jump to avoid the three hexes; throwing a shocked Weasley in the path of Grangers curse; shoving a slow Granger into Zabini and with his wand behind his back, conjuring a perfectly placed steel net was all it took.

"Expelliarmus," Harry said in his best possible bored voice.

"Speed, unpredictability and skill," Remus lectured. "Without these three you can't do squat," he said coldly while reviving Ron from his stint in the dark.

"He cheated!" Hermione said indignantly. "He started moving before you said three!"

"And I thought you were going to count to three," Blaise said scowling. "Not just _say_ three."

"And that is exactly the reason why you kids don't deserve to know anything about this war and forget about even thinking about participating in it!" Remus shouted.

"Do you actually think vampires will wait for you to count before they suck you dry?" Harry said sardonically. "Do you think a werewolf is going to wait for your permission to sink his teeth into your skin? Do you think a wizard is going to wait before he tears your heart into shreds?"

The three were quiet.

"You are nowhere near ready to know anything," Remus said quietly. "The only way you can help right now is keep training, keep your head down and help the muggles in any way you can."

"But," Ron protested and the next moment Harry had stunned him.

Remus gave him a disapproving look.

"Stop being so soft on them Remus," Harry said. "And if they don't get the point then show them some of your memories" And then he left. Truth to be told, he didn't care if they wanted to fight or not but they needed to face reality and that reality was that without power you get nowhere.

"Is that what he calls you being soft?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Harry has been forced to grow up too fast," Remus said with what sounded like regret in his voice. "All of you had a normal childhood with the problems every family faces. Harry grew up with nothing of the sort and the only friend he had was power. Power helped him not get hurt."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, horrified. "He was abused?"

"No, not the kind of abuse you're thinking about," Remus said thinking about all that Sirius had told him about Harry's time with the Dursley's. He knew a little about growing up in a loveless family and he regretted never going and checking up on Harry. He couldn't even fathom the mental isolation that Harry experienced during his childhood.

There was stretch of silence allowing the four to gather their thoughts.

"Go get something to eat," Remus said finally. "Burke will be waiting for you and the rest of your friends for your charms class."

"I don't like Burke," Blaise said. "He's not as good as Flitwick."

"Flitwick has other responsibilities now," Lupin said. "Now run along and don't forget to stop by at the infirmary. Poppy will kill me if she found out you didn't get your wounds healed up."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dumbledore's actions at Beauxbaton weren't without consequences. Voldemort's army had begun to start their sweep through Europe and there was little the resistance could do to stop them. Their rescue operations continued but they didn't dare to engage the army of beasts. Trolls had been the latest addition to the dark army and with the vampires and werewolves it would be suicidal for the resistance to engage the dark army.

It was slow but steadily Voldemort began to extend his territory beyond London.

Cities of grand magnificence began to take shape in places of great significance and one by one more and more magical being began to join hands with Voldemort. Witches and wizards who, in the beginning, stayed away from the conflict began to fill his newly formed cities and inch by inch his empire grew.

In the mean time the resistance formed by people who believed in the word of Albus Dumbledore and belief that Voldemort was evil struggled to survive. They hadn't given up yet but it the faith the magical folk had in them was beginning to wane. The muggles in their camp kept growing larger while the magical population inevitably began to shrink.

The nuclear clouds had almost cleared and what remained in its wake was a barren wasteland. The little portions of land that had survived the fall out were now isolated and even as the resistance did the best to track them down, it wasn't long before starvation and suicide got to them. Not to mention the dark army that was extremely adept at detected life and even better at ending it. Flora; fauna; nothing survived. It was causing a slow and torturous death to the planet.

On the other side of magic, the muggles kept their focus on increasing their forces and the surviving armed forces from all over the world were joining ranks forming an unprecedented alliance to combat the threat magic posed to their existence. The Asian countries were still in a political standoff but in light of the recent events the people had all but ignored the existence of a government and had chosen survival instead.

Everyone was waiting for the terrifying moment when the nuclear bombs would be dropped on them. Countries were ripe with fear as they did they best to stock up for the inevitable war.

In London, Lord Voldemort shivered with pleasure at the sight of the terrified muggles in his prisons. His empire was growing and the first anniversary of this city deserved to be celebrated with grandeur and blood. Nothing made his adrenaline rush like watching muggles kill each other.

His army had suffered a hit in France and Egypt but it was nothing he couldn't rebuild. He could gladly say his losses had resulted in a greater victory. Witches and wizards from Dumbledore's camp had defected to his and with them came valuable intel on Dumbledore's operations.

The dark mark wrapped around in Slytherin's crest now floated high above five more cities spread across central Europe. While London could be classified as his capital city, the rest were still having their foundations laid out and true to his word, the pureblood's that had supported his cause were now in charge of their governance.

It seemed like life was giving the best of what was there to offer to the magical beings but anyone who accepted these gifts was deluding themselves if they thought they deserved them. Everything they now had was built upon lies, murder and destruction and one day they would have to answer for their crimes.

But then every great civilization was built upon the blood of others. It was a fact engraved deep in the history of human civilization.

"Are the bombs ready?"

"Yes my lord."

"Good. Prepare them for deployment," Voldemort said.

The nuclear bombs had been modified. Voldemort knew that any bomb he tried to deploy would be tracked down and the order or rather the resistance as they called themselves now would have a chance to stop it. Every nuclear bomb that exploded was followed by an electromagnetic pulse that was capable of frying every electronic device in its radius and that was exactly what the dark lord had the scientists he had kidnapped do. It was amazing what results people would produce with the fear of death hanging over their heads.

This was the solution he had for the countries without the presence of nuclear reactors. He would destroy their electronics, their financial databases and then watch them tear themselves apart. The muggle hierarchy was dominated by the numbers they had in their bank accounts in a virtual world.  
When those numbers disappeared…. it was going to generate a lot of angry people followed by death.

Voldemort's lips curled.

"Have the muggles been prepared for the games?"

"Yes my lord. The banners have been put all over the city and Marcus is in charge of the events. If what I have seen so far is correct, then the games are going to be a huge success."

Voldemort smirked. "Good," he said. "Very good."

The dark lord was unaware that at that very moment, a man named Warlow was having a terrible seizure. He was remembering things that were unknown to him; things that didn't match his personality. His very thought process was being changed. Second by the second, the cruel cold hearted betrayer disappeared and Warlow remembered his mission, his true purpose.

A few minutes later he stopped seizing and he lay on the floor of his house panting hard. He felt like an anvil had just smashed his brain into mush every time he tried to think.

"Merlin," he swore. "You didn't tell me this was going to hurt so bad Albus," he mumbled and pushed himself to his feet. He was still feeling a woozy but he steeled himself and checked the date.

It had been two months since he had gone undercover. One month behind schedule.

"Are you alright master?" came a gentle voice from behind him and Warlow nearly jumped out of his skin.

It was a muggle girl dressed in a maid's uniform that left little to imagination complete with a steel collar strapped around her neck. Her eyes were dull and she never looked at him in the eye.

Bile rose in his throat as he remembered what had been done to this girl. She hardly looked like she was over twenty years old.

"Yes, yes I'm fine," he whispered. Warlow took a deep breath and composed himself. He remembered what he too had done to the girl and he with the memory of that he couldn't bear to look at the girl.

Today was the celebration and it was the perfect opportunity to complete his mission. He knew now that he had his memories back he couldn't stay. If he did it would be only a matter of time before he was caught. No, he had to find the secret behind the wards and get out of this hell as fast as he could.

"Carla," he called quietly.

"Yes master?"

"Where are your quarters?"

Carla's eyes clouded with fear. When the wizards asked about their quarters it was never a good thing but she knew better than to lie.

"In the dungeons," she said, her voice quivering.

"Which ones?" he asked. He couldn't let her know he intended to help. It could endanger his mission.

"Under the house behind the castle," she said. "All the working lower breeds reside there." Lower breeds; that was the term Voldemort had designated for the muggle slaves.

Warlow was quiet for a moment as a plan formed in his head. There was a special portkey which was able to bypass the wards and they were located in the castle. Also the power source of the wards was also somewhere within the castle walls. If he could locate the power source and steal some of the portkeys, escaping would not be a problem.

"I want you to take the day off and stay in your quarters until tomorrow morning," he said. "I want you to find as many friends of yours as possible and I want all of you to stay together without informing any witch or wizard do you understand? Since today is the celebration all your sisters will be with you."

"Yes master," she said and with her head bowed, she quietly slinked out of the room.

"Time to get to work," he said grimly. The event was set to start in three hours and after that he had five hours to complete his mission. Focusing on the task at hand, he conjured a massive white sheet that covered the floor and from memory he began to draw a plan of the castle.

The clock was ticking.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

Harry was scowling and it seemed like that was all that he did all day long since they had shifted back to Hogwarts. First the reason was the confinement; then the reason was the swarm of people now occupying the Quidditch grounds making it impossible for him to go on his daily run; then it was the superiority complex of adults who thought they were better than him; after that it was dealing with the agony of failing at occlumency constantly; and now it whether it his body or mind he did not know.

Freckles was grinning and waving at him and despite his bad mood he smiled and raised his hand acknowledging her. That involuntary action that was so unlike him caused him to yank his hand down as fast as possible and deepen his scowl. What in Merlin's name was wrong with him!? Deep down he knew the answer to that question but he was far from accepting the fact that it was true. The truth was that he liked Lillian.

"Hey. What with that ugly look?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said uncomfortably. "Just having a bad day."

"Huh. Well I look forward to your nonexistent good days then," she teased.

"Fat chance of those coming by any time soon," he grumbled.

"Walker still kicking your arse?" she said grinning.

Harry's scowl deepened if that were possible. "I don't know why they want me to learn how to fight the muggle way when I can kick arse with magic!?"

Lillian patted his back sympathetically. "Having a woman beat you down is pretty humiliating huh."

"Like you're doing any better," he snapped.

"Hey, I like the lady," Lillian said grinning. "I'm learning loads from her and watching her beat the crap out you is pretty awesome too."

"Yeah well, it's not the first time something like this has happened. Penelope was even more brutal."

Lillian pursed her lips. "I'm glad I got Nicolas," she said. "They guy was strict but he was nice too."

They reached teachers lounge and headed to the back room which was now Walkers private training area.

Sarah Walker, CIA agent, deep undercover in the Middle East. She had been extracted by General Casey's men after they had recovered some of the agencies files. Anyone who was valuable and possibly an asset to the war were being found and rescued if possible.

"You're late," Walker said sternly. Harry's constant arse whooping could also be related to the fact that Walker was the hottest blond he had ever laid his eyes on. It didn't help that she liked to wear tight fitting clothes too.

The room had been modified to have a wooden floor and numerous racks filled with all sorts of weapons placed all around it. Walker was only twenty six but she was proficient in hand to hand combat, sword play, kick boxing, and numerous other things Harry had never even heard of.

Her job was to teach Harry hand to hand combat under Dumbledore's orders despite Harry's protests. It had taken several hours of convincing to manage to get Harry to agree and the key argument was it would help his occlumency come along.

An hour later Harry lay flat on the floor, panting. "You know," he groaned. "You don't need to use all your strength in your kicks."

"Pain is quite the motivator," she said smiling. "And your headmaster told me that no matter how much damage I do to you, your doctors can fix you up in a jiffy."

Lillian came over and helped Harry get to his feet. "You alright?"

"My ribs feel like they've been cracked and yanked out one by one," Harry groused. "Does that answer your question?"

Lillian laughed.

"No need to get all smiles on me Austin," Walker said. "You're up next."

Lillian gulped and after setting Harry down in the corner she walked up to the spy and got into position. Her body facing Walker sideways and her left hand in front with her right beside her chest.

"Good," said Walker. "Now the same steps that I showed you yesterday. Now, ready?"

Lillian nodded.

"Come!" Walker said sharply and Lillian burst into motion.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **London**

Warlow couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. A dragon unlike any other dragon he had ever seen was bound and covered in runes deep under the ground under the castle.

"This must be one of the free dragons," he whispered in reverence. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. The floating castle; the impenetrable wards; it was all being powered by constantly siphoning magical power from the dragon. He could feel the immense power of the dragon's magic all around him.

" _Confringo!"_ Warlow said pointing his wand at random locations around the chamber. His aim was destroy the runes and cut of the siphoning process. " _Confringo, confringo, confringo!"_

He kept bombarding the place until it was looked like it was about the collapse any moment. The first indication was the growl that rumbled in the dragon's throat. It was waking and Warlow knew it wasn't going to be pleased with the treatment it had received by the dark lord.

A burst of inspiration struck him and he fired a tracking charm at its underbelly. It might be useful to know where it came from if it managed to escape.

The dragon stirred and the entire chamber began to crumble. That was the signal for Warlow to run. The wards around the chamber prevented him from apparating so he had to sprint back the way he came; through a narrow flight of spiral staircase which led to this place thirty feet under the ground.

"Bollocks!" he cursed as the ground began to shake violently and the stairs beneath his feet began to fall apart.

He ran as fast as he could and in the nick of time he leaped out the secret entrance and into the embrace of the sun light above.

But it wasn't over.

The floating castle was rapidly losing the magic that was keeping it in the sky and Warlow's eyes widened in fright when he saw the entire structure growing bigger and bigger from above him.

There was no time to waste! He twisted on the spot and apparated to the dungeons where some of the muggle women and children were being held captive. It was possible for those living inside the wards to apparate within its boundaries except for certain places important to the dark lord.

The instant he appeared in the dungeons he took advantage of the lack of security and the panic caused by what they thought was an earthquake and quickly stunned the guards on duty.

"All of you listen up!" he shouted, amplifying his voice. "I'm here to rescue you and if you want to escape then I want all of you to take a hold of this thread."

He withdrew a ball of thread and passed it to the nearest muggle. "Pass it along quick and make sure every one of you gets a finger on it!"

He spotted Carla's frightened face in the crowd of the women and ignored the guilt that rose in his gut.

"Come on, come on, do it fast!" he yelled. The ball in his hand grew smaller as the thread kept getting pulled to as many muggles as possible.

His ears twitched when he heard the doors to the dungeons burst open.

"Vampires," he whispered in fear and without wasting a second he tapped his wand to the thread and said, " _Salazar."_

Warlow, along with nearly a hundred women and children disappeared in a flash just as the vampires descended upon his location.

He had completed his mission beyond what had been expected. He had dealt the first severe blow to Voldemort by sending his castle crashing back to the earth and destroying the wards that surrounded them. Now it would be possible to fight back without wondering where to strike.

Their enemy was now exposed.


	51. Part 2 - Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Matchmaker**

"Do not use dark magic," Voldemort repeated that line over and over as his smoldering eyes stared at his heavily damaged castle. He was proud of the skill and power it had taken to build the castle and he was even more proud of the runes he had created to control the dragon's magic. But now thanks to a traitor in their midst his pride and joy had come crashing down leaving fury in its wake.

He was completely immune to the rest of the destruction the dragon had caused when it made its escape.

As usual the Count stood a few paces behind Voldemort but instead of being angry at their losses, he was terribly amused. This entire war, Voldemort's ambition, the death and destruction: it was all just a game to him. He had been on this planet for centuries and watching this end of the world scenario made him want to laugh all the way to the end. It took a lot to get the Count's blood pumping and it was exactly what he needed to feel alive once more.

"Malfoy," Voldemort hissed. This was all Draco Malfoy's fault and he was going to pay for this. He flicked his wand and summoned the wizard closest to him at his feet.

"M-my Lord?" stammered the man. One moment he was help the others clear the rubble and the next he was at the dark lord's feet.

Voldemort wrapped his slender fingers around the wizard's neck and stared in the man's eyes. This time watching the fear course through the man gave him no pleasure at all. "Find the Malfoy's and bring them to me now," he spat.

"So this was Dumbledore's intention," the Count said calmly, polishing his nails on his blood-red shirt.

"Malfoy was played and he will pay for that."

"Don't blame your short sight on the young Malfoy, Voldemort. I thought you were above such petty feelings now that you call yourself emperor," the Count mocked.

"Do not test me _Vlad_ ," Voldemort snapped. The Count's expression darkened at the use of his name and before Voldemort could realize his mistake the Count had wrapped his cold fingers around the dark lord's neck, applying enough pressure short of snapping his neck.

"Don't forget our agreement _Lord_ Voldemort," Vlad growled slowly extending his fangs. He ran his tongue on Voldemort neck delighting in the increase of the dark lord's blood pressure.

"Let go of me now," Voldemort warned feeling disgusted at the vampire's behavior. There was reason he loathed these creatures but for now he had to pretend to be their ally.

The king of the vampires tightened his hold on Voldemort's neck for a moment before shoving the dark lord away.

"Never use my name again or else you'll find my kind less accommodating to you wizards," The Count said. The threat was as clear as daylight.

Voldemort sneered at the vampire. It would be a cold day in hell before he apologized to any creature on the planet and he turned away and summoned another death eater.

"Where is Malfoy!?" he spat.

"F-forgive me my lord, but the Malfoy's are nowhere to be found!"

Fury clouded his vision and Voldemort slashed his wand and blood spurted from the death eater's neck. Voldemort watched coldly as the man choked on his own blood and the life slowly faded from his eyes. He pushed up the man's left sleeve and pressed his wand to the dark mark.

Moments later the air was filled with cracking sounds as his most loyal followers apparated to his side.

Lucius was absent from his regular position.

"The Malfoy's have betrayed us," he said darkly. "The death eater that brings me all three heads will be rewarded with the right to rule over Paris. Marcus, summon the goblin chief to my chambers. It's time he put the freedom I have granted them to good use."

He glared at the masked witches and wizards one more time and said, "You can use any means you deem necessary to capture and kill the traitors. You all have a unit of vampires and werewolves at your disposal and you can use them for this task. Bellatrix, you stay. The rest of you leave."

"My Lord," she whispered reverently. She knelt and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"You have done well in purging this continent of unworthy blood," he said. "Now it is time to move on to the filth in the Middle East."

"Your wish is my command My Lord," Bellatrix said bowing deeply.

Voldemort smiled at the witch. There was no one in his army as devoted as Bellatrix was. "And before you leave go to the barracks and inform Keller to start placing the bombs. He knows what the targets are."

"So soon My Lord?" Bellatrix asked in surprise. She rarely questioned her master but Voldemort never stopped her from doing so. She was the only one who was allowed to question his judgment.

"Dumbledore is going to regret rousing my anger to such levels. I was going to give them a chance to surrender but now I am going to annihilate every last one of them."

An explosion stopped his rant and his eyes widened in shock when he looked at the sky. The wards were gone and his city was open to attack by muggle weapons.

Three fiery streaks in the sky were heading straight towards his castle. "Find those muggles and kill them now!" he shrieked and hurled a curse intercepting the missiles causing them to explode in mid-air.

"Bellatrix, get every death eater on a broom and if even one of those muggle bombs touch my city I will see every last one of them executed!"

The purple eyed witch apparated in an instant, a truly insane look on her face. Her master had given her a command.

"I trust you will get those blasted goblins to erect wards around the city Count?" Voldemort said while keeping his eyes fixed on the sky. His perfect plan for world domination was crumbling right before his eyes.

The Count just vanished from his sight leaving a cloud of dust behind.

"Dumbledore you will pay for this!" he screamed, apoplectic with rage as another missile rocketed towards his precious city.

Deep within his magical core, in a dark corner open to another dimension, evil relished the feeling of rage that was pumping through the dark lord. "Good," it thought. Tom Riddle might have managed to lock the creature in a deep and dark corner but this level of rage was strong enough to loosen the bindings placed on it. Soon, it thought. Soon it would break free, consume this child's magic and break free into the world once more.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

50 miles off the coast of London, the crews of four type 45 destroyers were on high alert as the ships fired missile after missile into their homeland. They had been literally marooned at sea for almost a year and now finally they had a chance to take back what was theirs.

"Captain," called out one of the officers who had his eyes glued to the radar. "We have bogies coming our way at twelve 'o'clock."

"How many?"

"They're too close to each other to make out sir but as an estimate I would put the count at a dozen."

Captain White turned to Snape questioningly. Where they to engage the wizards in combat or retreat?

"Radio the other ships to turn around and head to the rendezvous," Snape said. "I'll try to hold off the pests heading towards us," he said and left the bridge. He headed straight to the men manning the antiaircraft cannons and sent a message via the patronus charm to Dumbledore. Kingsley, Tonks and Jones were aboard the other ships and he trusted them to do their jobs.

"Be careful," White warned. "The ocean's particularly rough today."

The captain was not joking. The moment Snape stepped out of the confines of the ship; he was greeted by a shower of salt water which almost swept him off his feet. Gasping he quickly applied a sticking charm to his boots and applied a bubble head charm to protect his eyes.

The weather was worsening quickly. Storm clouds were gathering rapidly and rain began to pour heavily. Talk about a climax, Snape thought sourly and then gasped when the ship was rocked by a powerful wave. Targeting the death eaters was going to be difficult in such conditions but the advantage was on their side. Magic had never had to go up against battleships.

Lightening laced across the sky illuminating dozens figures flying towards them. "Here we go," he muttered with dread, "The fated encounter between magic and science."

The thunder that followed was the signal for the battle to begin. The cannon's on the battleships began to boom followed by the chugging sound of machine guns. The death eaters scattered in pairs.

"Smart," thought Snape. One was keeping up a shield to stop the bullets and the other to go on the offensive. But how long could they keep up a simple shield against the constant barrage of .50 caliber bullets. The nasty weather was definitely working in their advantage as none of the spells being targeted at them were accurate and Snape found it almost too easy to block those that did make it to the ship.

BOOM!

A spell impacted the ship Kingsley was on and Snape watched in horror a part of the ship was torn apart. What kind of spell was that!? He clicked on his radio and said, "Captain, one of the wizards in each pair is the shield. Tell your men to target him and take him out!"

"Copy that. Back up is on the way."

"Back up? What back up?"

"Raptors," came the reply and Snape just frowned in confusion. He was brought back to reality when another spell hit the deck of the ship he was on and he fell on his back by the force of the impact.

"Damn it!" he cursed. The weather was making it very hard for him to see clearly. " _Protima!"_ he roared when he spotted the black light coming at him again and the impact of the curse on his shield nearly knocked him off the ship.

Suddenly something streaked across the sky at lightening speeds and a few seconds later a roaring sound followed. Lightening, thunder, streaks of objects in the sky, explosions in the sky, terrible weather; Snape had no idea what was going on but to his utter shock he noticed that the death eaters were falling like flies in the face of an insect repellent hex.

The words the muggle on the radio had said resounded in his head.

 _Raptors_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

The return of Warlow was greeted with great cheer and enthusiasm. The fire that had nearly died out within their hearts had been revived as a roaring blaze. Warlow had returned a hero but it was far from what he felt like.

He silently watched the muggles he had rescued from afar after giving his report to Dumbledore and since then the resistance had been in a tizzy.

Orders were flying around like dust in the wind and all of them had one thing in common; Destruction. The muggle general was barking commands to launch missiles into London like distributing candy on Halloween. Dumbledore was busy barking orders to set up traps outside the wards of Hogwarts discreetly since he was sure that Voldemort would now move to stop them and set up a barricade beyond their wards.

Warlow on the other hand had his eyes focused on Carla and some of the other muggles who had the misfortune of being summoned into his house and the homes of the other purebloods when he was not himself. Their terrified and tear-stained faces flashed before his eyes every time he closed them and his urge to beg for forgiveness was deeply buried under self loathing. He silently watched as the healers checked them for injuries and their grim faces was not one bit comforting to him.

"Are you alright Andrew?" Sirius asked the man, placing his hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

Warlow nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact but calmed down when he saw who it was. "No I'm not," he replied heavily.

Sirius frowned in concern. "Have you gotten yourself checked up by Poppy or any of the other healers?"

"No."

"Well come on then! I don't even want to imagine what state your mind is in!"

"Not yet," he said, jerking away from Sirius. "Let the muggles be done first."

Sirius sensed something was seriously wrong here but he didn't press the matter. He just nodded, patted his friend on the back and left. Night was approaching and they were still waiting for word from their four man team on the muggle boats. The last they had heard, death eaters were approaching and the muggles were getting into battle mode.

This was the first test to see if muggle could hold their own against magic and Sirius and many others were praying that they could. Their survival depended on it.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Up in the headmaster's office Dumbledore was glad he finally had some time to himself. It had been too long since he had actually relaxed and enjoyed a glass of wine.

While his body was getting some desperately needed rest his mind was swimming with random thoughts, plans, ideas and the burden of keeping his people alive. Worry about Harry was always at the forefront on his mind; the morale of his men was at the forefront of his mind; the interactions between the muggle and wizards that survived was at the forefront of his mind; the task of managing to keep everyone alive was at the forefront of his mind and the most recent addition to that list was Luna Lovegood. It had been hard enough to find that girl and one tiny peek into her mind and given him a severe headache that had lasted hours. Whatever that was going on in that girl's mind, Albus knew for sure it wasn't normal even by magic standards.

Fawkes ruffled his feathers and trilled softly easing Dumbledore's thought process.

"Thank you Fawkes. I needed that," he said softly. "Do you think it's a good idea to launch an attack on London or the cities that Voldemort is having built?" he asked the phoenix.

Fawkes tiny black eyes bored into his and Dumbledore chuckled. "I thought not. Any confrontation with that army will only result in the death of hundreds of muggles and wizards. What's worse is there are just around thousand wizards and witches in our camp whereas the count on Voldemort's side easily crosses the ten thousand mark. We have to wait for Croaker to finish his research and build weapons that can fight that many monsters."

The phoenix jumped of its perch and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder.

"What's next with Harry you ask? Well if Ms. Walker thinks he's had enough of the basic training then I think we should set him loose."

"I can't keep him here you know that don't you," Dumbledore said stroking his familiar. "The boy is destined to destroy Voldemort or be destroyed in the process. I had thought of sending him to track the dragon but I think I'll do that myself."

"Of course I'm not sending him alone!" Dumbledore said indignantly. "I was planning on letting him chose whomever he wanted to take with him. And as to where I plan on sending him, I'll be giving him a list of names. Purebloods who were the first to turn their back on what is right. Harry's mission will be to assassinate them. Without the presence of capable leaders, Voldemort's army will fall apart."

Dumbledore cringed at the pain that rushed through him when Fawkes dug his claws into his shoulder.

"His innocence is long gone my friend. I can't protect him forever and unfortunately this is the only path that I see which can bring this war to a close before the world is completely decimated! It's a miracle that Harry has stayed with us for this long. I half expected him to leave and fight this war all by himself but he has shown remarkable mental control over the power he posses. No Fawkes, the time has come for Harry to leave us."

Fawkes sang a sad song.

"I'm sorry Fawkes. I really am."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **The Lake**

The sun had set a while back and the moon was making its ascent over the forest while Lillian and Sarah were walking along the banks of the lake. To the muggles camping out nearby, it was common to see a dark-haired young man walking around in the shallows, sometimes accompanied by another girl but today they saw the young dark-haired girl in the company of a blond woman.

It was the first time they had seen the girl down there without the boy.

"How are you feeling?" Sarah asked.

"Not bad," Lillian said. "My body feels like it's just been in a car crash but apart from that I'm totally fine."

Sarah chuckled. "Sorry," she said sympathetically. "This kind of training is very hard but you've caught on far quicker than I would have expected."

"I've always been a quick learner when it came to fighting," Lillian said grinning. "My dad says that ever since I learnt how to walk I've always liked to beat things that annoyed me."

"That's not nice," Sarah said frowning.

"My first victim was a stuffed toy named Snuggles."

Sarah laughed. "Seriously?"

"My second victim was Stephanie in third grade," Lillian continued. "She had some fascination with pulling my pony tail."

"My, my," Sarah said, amused. "Looks like you were and are quite the tigress."

Lillian flushed, "Why did you want to talk to me anyway?" she asked bringing up the reason they were down here in the first place.

"Well," Sarah said slowly. "I wanted to talk to you about Harry."

"What about him?"

"How long have you liked him?"

"W-wha-what!?" Lillian spluttered. That was certainly not what she was expecting! Her liking Harry? _Harry!?_ Had the blond gone bananas?!

"Oh come on now Lillian," Sarah said mischievously. "I've seen the way you look at him and the way he looks at you! The two of you like each other."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lillian denied firmly. "Harry's my friend and I'm close to him because we've gone through some crazy stuff ever since I've been introduced to this world. Does the end of the world ring a bell?!"

"Now why are you getting all defensive?" Sarah asked stopping and turning to face Lillian.

The fire elemental was turning red.

"He is just a friend," Lillian said angrily. "Get that into your blond head!"

"Are you calling me dumb blond?" Sarah asked lightly.

Lillian took a deep breath and calmed herself. Walker was right. Her getting all defensive would not prove that she didn't have any such feelings for Harry. "I don't like him like that," she said firmly. The voices in the back of her head disagreed vehemently but she ignored them, like she always did.

"Your face softens every time you look at him, you take every opportunity you get to touch him, to spend time with and trust me when I say that he does the same. You love spending time with him and the both of you keep glancing at each other when the other is not looking. Now I've not been here that long but I know two love struck idiots when I see them."

Lillian squeaked. "Love!? What are you trying to say you maniac? Love!? **_LOVE_**!?"

"Okay, okay," Sarah placated. "Maybe I went too far and there's no need for you to freak out but I stand by everything else I said."

"Why do you care anyway?" Lillian asked breathing heavily. Her body temperature had sky rocketed the moment she heard that word.

Sarah didn't dare tell her that this was Sirius's idea and he was the one who brought their obvious infatuation to her notice. She didn't tell the girl that at this very moment Sirius was having a similar talk with Harry in the Hogwarts kitchen.

"We're at war," Sarah said solemnly. "Under normal circumstances I wouldn't give you this talk but now, in this half dead world that we live in, I don't want to see two people who clearly like each other to keep dancing around their feelings."

"I speak from experience Lillian," she said gently.

Lillian was quiet.

Sarah smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Think about it," she said and turned back to the castle. A naughty smirk grew on her face as soon as she had her back to Lillian. Her job was done!

In the kitchens of Hogwarts the elves were in a panic trying to undo the charms placed on the meat and forks and knives.

Sirius was on the floor completely winded. His wand lay a few feet away from him and there were several headless chickens holding knives and forks pinning him to the floor.

"Say that again!" Harry threatened. "I dare you to say it. I double dare you!"

"I'm going to say it again and I don't care what you do to me!" cried Sirius.

"Master Potter! Master Potter!" the elves squeaked. "We needs the meat for dinner master Potter!"

"Shut it all of you!" Harry shouted furiously. He flicked his wand and the headless chickens pressed the forks a little harder into his neck.

"You like Lillian and all you want to do is press your lips to hers and profess your undying love for her," Sirius croaked.

The house elves started to panic when the temperature dropped and the fires began to go out.

"The food, the food!"

Harry pointed his wand at the chickens and they dropped all the utensils.

Sirius sighed in relief thinking he had gotten through to Harry but then his eyes bugged out in agony. A headless turkey had just rocketed between his legs.

The elves quickly gathered all the metal and meat and placed their version of an anti summoning charm on everything within Harry's range.

"Gawd Harry," Sirius moaned clutching his jewels. "Women love these gems more than I do! Do you want to deprive them of these beauties!?"

"I do not like Lillian the way you're suggesting," Harry said coldly. "I've never had any urges to kiss or do anything that involves physical contact with her and I most certainly do not _love_ her. Do you understand me?"

Sirius stood up wincing as he did and gently lowered himself into a chair.

Harry's temper evaporated and the temperature came back to normal.

"Alright," Sirius said softly. He was soft only because trying to speak loudly was sending jolts of pain in the soft tissue of the most important part of his anatomy.

"Alright what?" Harry asked scowling.

"I'll pretend that I didn't see your eyes fixated on Lillian when she was training with Sarah. I'll also pretend that I didn't see you involuntarily moving to hold her hand when you two were going to the Gryffindor tower. Maybe I ought the forget that time when you wanted to pulverized Seamus for cheekily smacking her behind or maybe I should forget the way you look at her every single time you lay eyes on her!"

"Sirius, you're my godfather but you're pushing me to turn you into an ice-cube!"

"Stop denying your heart Harry!" Sirius urged. "If you allow yourself to see the truth then maybe you wouldn't want to crush my balls."

Harry huffed. "Fat chance," he snorted.

"You know I'm right," Sirius said.

"You're wrong," Harry rebutted sharply. "She's just a good friend and I can tolerate her more than I can anyone else."

"Harry," Sirius said exasperatedly. "If anyone else did half the things Lillian did around you and said to you, you would hate that person but in Lillian's case you just smile and joke about it. Now I know you and I know how your mind works. I've seen the way you were around each other a year back and the way you talked about her when I broke out of prison and _trust me,_ she likes you as much as you like her."

"I don't…" Harry began.

"Why don't you put aside that denial for some time and objectively assess your interactions with her and her interactions with others. Then make your decision about what's right," Sirius said wisely. Forcing the issue was not going to work.

Harry sighed. "Fine," he said grudgingly. "But it's not going to change anything and I think you're forgetting that we're in the middle of a bloody war."

Sirius had to fight the compulsion to cheer and celebrate. Instead he did his best to look serious. "War brings people closer," he said. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Your class mates for one," he said. "Houses don't matter to them anymore. They all get along to a degree and you'll notice some of the older ones spending a lot of time with their lady friends," he said grinning.

Harry frowned and then his eyebrows shot up. "You mean?"

"That's right. Nobody wants to live the last moments of their life with regret and in such moments people are more open about things they're usually closed up about."

"Huh," Harry muttered.

Sirius smiled and ruffled his godson's hair.

"Stop that!" Harry protested.

"Don't keep your heart closed Harry. Our expiry date is right around the corner and you don't want to have any regrets when that time comes."

Harry was silent.

"Think on it," Sirius said and left. He smiled wearily as he turned his back to Harry. That had been way harder than he had expected.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **London**

How? That was the one question that raged in Voldemort's mind. How did Andrew Warlow trick him? How did his most potent legilimency probe and questioning under vertiaserum miss the simple fact that Warlow was a spy for Dumbledore? How could this happen!?

Pillars of thick black smoke rose lazily all over the city. The muggle assault had destroyed several homes of his foreign pureblood friends. Three of the new domes the goblins were building had been blown to bits. Even the muggle prisoners working outside had been killed in the assault, not that he cared about them but he was more concerned with the fear his residents were experiencing. He had to restore their confidence in him and he had to do it fast.

Voldemort's grip on his wand tightened. His magic was baying for blood and the urge to use dark magic had never been so intense but he was the most powerful wizard in the world. He could control his urges no matter how bad they got.

He was standing atop the west tower of his castle looking down at the goblins and wizards as they began to clear up the mess that the city had become and started to ward every structure that stood. The loss of the dragon could not be compensated by any means available and he was no longer invulnerable to an attack by Dumbledore and his fools.

"Count," Voldemort said sorely, detecting the presence of the cocky vampire behind him.

"Voldemort," acknowledged Vlad. "It seems like this round was won by Dumbledore and the muggles."

"We learn from our mistakes," Voldemort said.

"Your followers who went to sea have returned."

"And?"

"They sunk one ship and returned short of thirty death eaters."

Voldemort's nostrils flared. Only twenty had returned!?

"They fled before they were wiped out," Vlad said chuckling. This just great, he thought. Finally this war had some substance.

Voldemort didn't say a word. He was too busy stopping himself trying to kill the Count.

"What do you plan to do now?"

"Ask your men to assemble outside the city," Voldemort said.

"My men or the muggles you had converted?"

" _Your_ men Count. We are going to set up camp at strategic points outside Hogwarts."

"You do realize Dumbledore will be planning something similar and he will anticipate this move?" Vlad said dryly.

"I'm not stupid Count. I have a plan," Voldemort said coldly.

Vlad looked like he wanted to say something but instead he just nodded and sped away. It was too bad that once this war was over the world would be nothing more than a barren wasteland. It would take decades to restore some semblance of stability to the environment once both sides had eliminated each other. They would also have to carefully breed muggles to keep up their stock of blood supply. Vlad smiled darkly as he leaped over the roof tops. The best part about this war was that he had to just watch it unfold. For someone who was widely known as a genius, Voldemort was most certainly a very foolish man.

All that remained now was to see who would survive in the end and dominate this wrecked planet.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

After the success of Warlow's mission and the victory at sea Dumbledore had come to the conclusion that having a feast would be a great idea to lift everyone's spirits and it was safe to say that everyone, muggle and magical, were happy tonight. More than the witches and wizards, it was the muggle survivors who needed a lift of their spirits.

Dumbledore smiled happily at the nostalgic atmosphere in the great hall. It reminded him of the better times when children roamed these halls and delighted over the feasts the elves produced. The pure innocence and happiness of those times seemed like a distant memory to him and it warmed his heart to see the muggles having a good time. Merlin's only knew when was the last time they had a reason to smile.

His keen eyes spotted Harry emerging from the east entrance and wondered where the boy was all this time. He watched him ponder upon where to sit and chuckled when he moved towards where Sirius and Remus were having a mini food fight. Dumbledore frowned when he noticed some sort of tension between Harry and Sirius. Had the two had a fight?

A couple of seats down the table Harry's fellow classmates were sitting and chattering away. He found it odd that Ms Austin was half-heartedly involving herself in their discussions. That was strange, Dumbledore thought. Usually the fiery elemental loved to participate in arguments and discussions.

"Stop over analyzing everything Albus," McGonagall commented from his left. "People might think you're showing an unhealthy amount of interest in their lives."

"Just gauging everybody's mood my dear Minerva," Dumbledore said hastily.

"They're all happy and let's leave it at that," Minerva said sternly. "Now eat! The mashed potatoes are particularly delicious today."

"So are the pork chops," Dumbledore said chuckling. "How's your new arm Severus?"

Snape just bent the spoon between his fingers and then straightened it out. "As you can see it's fully functional," Snape said.

"Good to know," Dumbledore said heartily. To his right General Casey was busy digging into desert. Dumbledore was going to strike up a conversation with the man but the glare he received in return changed his mind. Let the General has a dangerous sweet tooth, he thought warily.

"Harry look," Sirius said conspiratorially.

"Look at what?"

"That guy Max is chatting up your girl."

Harry felt a rush of anger at both Sirius and this person named Max. His eyes narrowed when he noticed a brown-haired boy, probably a year older than him leaning across the table and stealing Lillian's strawberry whilst ignoring her protests.

"She's not my girl Sirius," Harry said flippantly. "Why would I care about this Max person anyway?"

Sirius just smirked knowingly. He had seen that rise of anger in Harry before it was locked away behind a carefully constructed mask.

"Pass me the custard," Sirius innocently asked Harry. "I'll explain later," he mouthed to Remus who looked bewildered at the exchange.

"Who is this Max anyway?" Harry asked suddenly.

"He was with a group of muggles we rescued from Germany," Remus answered. "He's been quite helpful with organizing routines for the muggles in and outside the castle. Quite a resourceful kid he is."

"Is that so," Harry muttered snidely.

Remus looked startled at the Harry's hostile behavior. He looked at Sirius questioningly but Sirius just waved his hands dismissively. Something weird was going on here.

"Hi there Mr. Black. Mind if I join you?"

"Justine," Sirius said happily. "Where have you been?"

"Oh I was helping the doctors out," she said tiredly. "One of the women brought in yesterday was quite badly injured."

"This is my godson Harry by the way," Sirius said, introducing the two. "Harry this is Justine. She's one of the few who escaped from London at the beginning."

"Nice to meet you," Harry said politely. He gave this unknown brunette a once over and then stabbed his peas moodily.

Remus frowned. He had never heard or seen this Justine interacting with Sirius at all. What was he missing he wondered. He glanced at Lillian and noticed their muggle trainer Sarah Walker sitting next to her.

"Can you pass me the chocolate fudge Harry," Justine asked.

"Sure," Harry said disinterestedly.

"Umm," she moaned as she dipped her finger into the bowl and placed the chocolate covered finger in her mouth. Harry raised an eyebrow at the girl's behavior. "Just what the doctor ordered," she said winking at Harry.

Everything suddenly clicked in Remus's mind when at that precise moment he noticed Sarah bringing Justine to Lillian's notice. This was a set up!

The flash of murderous intent in Lillian's eyes was enough of a confirmation for him. "You're an idiot you know that Padfoot!" he said exasperatedly.

Sirius practically radiated innocence. "What are you talking about Moony?"

Remus just shook his head in resignation. Sirius hadn't lost his penchant for match making. He remembered with vivid detail the plan his friend had laid out to get Lily and James together. It was the best prank the marauders had ever pulled off.

"Will it work?" he whispered instead.

Sirius just grinned.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The feast had ended a while back and Harry was roaming the corridors aimlessly once more. He had a lot on his mind and this time it wasn't about war, elements or occlumency. It was mostly about a girl.

He briefly wondered if it was fate when he stumbled into her at the turn of the transfiguration corridor.

"Freckles," he said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Could ask you the same thing," she grunted rubbing her ribs where his elbow had bumped.

His mind flashed back to the unwanted conversation he had with Sirius that evening and he suddenly looked at Lillian in a new light. She was really pretty he realized.

Lillian was completely bemused when Harry smacked his head in irritation.

"Err are you alright?" she asked giggling.

"Yeah," he said. "Just thinking about something Sirius said to me," he mumbled. "Couldn't sleep."

"Me too," she said laughing nervously.

"Couldn't sleep?" Harry asked curiously.

"Something like that," she admitted. She had slept but her dreams were filled with Harry's presence. She was afraid that she had liked them a little too much and was very, very worried. Was Sarah right? Did she have feeling for Harry? The thought sent another pulse of uncertainty down her spine.

"What'd you think of Dumbledore's speech?" she asked him. This silence between them was making her feel extremely awkward.

"Oh I missed it," Harry said. "Came in a bit late."

They were unaware of Sirius and Sarah's presence under Harry's invisibility cloak just a few yards away. They were also unaware of the clever spells and enchantments Sirius had put in place to ensure they ran into each other tonight.

"You know," Sarah whispered, "As a professional spy, spying on kids is making me feel like a child molester!"

"Shush," Sirius whispered. "This is for a better cause."

"A better cause!? I can't believe what my life has been reduced too!"

"Then why did you agree to help?" Sirius demanded.

"Because they clearly like each other," Sarah said. "What I didn't agree to was fulfilling your perverted desires and watch kids making out!"

Sirius turned around which was difficult considering their sizes and the not so large invisibility cloak. He flicked her nose and glared at her.

"Ouch!"

They both went silent when Harry and Lillian stopped talking and looked around suspiciously.

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked drawing his wand.

"I think I did," Lillian said. "Maybe it was a rat or something."

"No," Harry said narrowing his eyes as he scanned the corridor. "It was definitely a person."

Sarah and Sirius just stood as still as possible and held their breaths praying that Harry didn't do anything to reveal them.

"Wait," Lillian said suddenly. "I think someone's humming! It's coming from down there," she said pointing the opposite direction.

The two adults wondered who was roaming around the castle so late at night.

"Oh no," Harry said fearfully. "It's her. We have to get out of here!"

It was too late.

A barefoot Luna spotted them and gasped.

Harry was glad she wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary but her gasp sounded like the footsteps of doom to him.

"You know her Harry?" Lillian asked curiously.

"That's Luna Lovegood," Harry said nervously. "We've met once before."

Luna was still staring at the two with wide eyes and hidden under a cloak of invisibility, Sirius and Sarah also stared at Luna curiously wondering who this girl was and why was she ruining their plans!

"Are you alright?" Lillian asked, concerned.

"You... I… So many!" Luna whispered in reverence. Her eyes focused on Harry and her expression turned deadly serious. "Kiss her now."

"What?"

"What!" Lillian gasped.

"What!?" Sarah and Sirius said, shocked.

Luna turned to Lillian. "Kiss him quick or they will disappear on you!" she said urgently.

"Luna, have you gone mad?" Harry asked heatedly.

"You have to kiss or the Nargles will stop mating and the Snoracks will not be attracted!" she screamed. "This is a rare opportunity so kiss NOW!"

"Look I don't know who you are but I don't..." Lillian began, not finding this funny.

"KISS!"

"Luna, stop this nonsense at once," Harry barked. Inside his body, his heart was pounding and there was an internal war raging. One part of him that Harry had never felt was literally begging him to kiss her and the rational part of his mind was stopping him from doing so.

"KISS!" Luna screamed hysterically.

Lillian turned to Harry. Her own mind was emulating Luna and screaming at her to kiss him. Why was she even considering this!? Why did she even turn towards him when she should have just smacked that girl and forced her to shut up! Her protests and reasons for not doing so were steadily dying and like an echo in an utterly silent world the words, kiss him were reverberating in her soul.

"Harry," she whispered: her voice suddenly ripe with emotion and indecision.

Harry looked into her eyes and felt like he was about to have a panic attack. His heart rate was definitely beyond any barriers of normalcy. Luna's screams were suddenly drowned in the ocean that was Lillian's eyes. His heart beat and her eyes: that was all that he was capable of noticing. He was so close to her and yet he wasn't able to bring himself to kiss her.

The pressure was just too much.

"Oh for the love of god," Sirius muttered exasperatedly. He fired a silencing spell at the hysterical girl and nudged Harry with a flick of his wand.

Harry jerked forward and their lips met.

They were too stunned to even realize what had just happened and seconds later when they did realize they simultaneously pushed each other away.

"You idiot!" Sarah hissed furiously and quietly. "Why did you do that!?"

Sirius mouthed something incomprehensible and Sarah felt like breaking his nose. He had just ruined their moment! Words could not describe the anger she was feeling towards Sirius at this moment.

Harry rounded up on Luna ready to accuse her of pushing him into Lillian but there was nobody there to accuse. The mysterious girl had disappeared.

"Lillian," he began apologetically and at the same time said girl went, "Listen Harry."

They both stopped mid way and sheepishly grinned at each other. Some sort of barrier had just broken between them and they both looked terribly embarrassed.

"Blast it all," Harry said and he surrendered to his heart.

He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her close to him.

Lillian felt his lips caress her own and their worlds dissolved in a rainbow of bliss.


	52. Part 2 - Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Mission**

"Blast it all," Harry said and for the first time in his life he abandoned all reason and surrendered to his heart.

He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her close to him.

Lillian felt his lips caress her own and her world dissolved in a rainbow of bliss. She snaked her arms around his neck and revealing in the feel of her lips languidly moving on his.

A couple of minutes later they broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other.

"Hi," Harry whispered stupidly, with a smile that looked completely out of place on his usual stoic face. They still hadn't let go of each other.

Lillian responded by planting another kiss on his lips and giggled. "I can't believe this," she said breathlessly. Harry grinned and pushed her towards the wall trapping her there.

Lillian raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Harry just kissed her deeply. This time they lost what little self control they had and their hands began to roam. Neither of two noticed the steam forming between them as their skin made contact and the control over their elements got weaker. They were too absorbed with mapping each other's mouth.

"WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?"

Harry literally leaped away from Lillian at the sound of that familiar voice. It was professor McGonagall.

"Professor," Lillian squawked in fright and patted her robes trying to look presentable. Harry had his hand on his chest. He was tired of having heart attack like situations and he looked at the furious teacher warily.

"We were just talking professor," Harry said innocently.

"Talking? You call what you two were doing talking!" thundered McGonagall. "And what's with all this steam?"

Harry and Lillian blinked. Then they realized that the professor was right. The corridor was quite steamy and a naughty thought ran through both the teens' minds.

"Now that's what I call a steamy kiss," Sarah whispered. She was no longer mad at Sirius and had placed her head on his shoulder.

"You stole the words right out of my mouth," Sirius whispered. "Now let's get out of here. The shows over. I don't want McGonagall to catch us too!"

"Aww," Sarah pouted.

"Keep you perverted fantasies to yourself woman," Sirius reprimanded. "I saw the look on your face when they started making out."

Walker smacked him across his head. "What was with all the steam though?" she asked. "That really surprised me."

"Harry is an ice elemental and Lillian is a fire elemental," Sirius explained.

Sarah looked lost.

"An elemental is a wizard or witch that controls one of nature's elements. They are rare and extremely powerful."

"And those two kids are elementals?" Sarah asked. "Talk about the odds," she said in awe.

Sirius nodded in agreement. "An elemental hasn't been around for decades or perhaps centuries and then out of the blue we have two and what's even more amazing is that they were born in the same year and what's even more incredible is that they fell for each other."

"I don't believe in fate or destiny but now I don't know," Sarah said, astonished. "So the steam was because of their elements?"

"They'll have to learn to exert perfect control over their elements if they don't want any accidents to happen in the heat of passion," he said chuckling. "This is going to be really fun to watch."

"Now who's the pervert huh," Sarah snorted.

Back near the transfiguration wing McGonagall was still yelling at the two about decency and age limits and ethics and a whole lot of things that they expected to hear in a lecture from an adult.

Harry glanced at Lillian to see if she was listening to the professor and almost laughed when he saw her fighting to keep the smile of her face as she looked down at her feet pretending to be sorry.

"Are you listening to me Potter?!" McGonagall yelled.

"Yes professor," Harry said, quickly snapping to attention. "Begging your pardon professor but school is not in session so I don't understand why you are so upset?"

The professor spluttered. "That is not the point Potter," she said coldly. "And as to why I am here in the first place is because I heard this one," she jerked her finger towards Lillian, "screaming like a maniac!"

"That was not me professor!" Lillian protested. "It was some crazy girl who was screaming her head off about nafles or something like that."

McGonagall's nostrils flared and Harry and Lillian quickly redirected their gaze to their feet.

"Back to your common room now," McGonagall said in her deadly calm voice.

They didn't need to be told twice and they quickly scarpered. They looked back and saw McGonagall trailing them. The professor was actually making sure they went back to the common room.

"Did the professor seem a little angry to you?" Harry asked Lillian feigning ignorance.

"Just a tad," Lillian replied smirking. "It fact it's quite sweet of her to ensure that we make it to our respective beds."

Harry snorted.

Their eyes met and the impulse to kiss each other was strong.

"Move it!" barked McGonagall.

They just sighed in resignation. When they reached the common room Harry turned to the professor.

"Erm professor," he said hesitantly.

"What is it Potter," she asked, annoyed.

"I'd appreciate it if you, you know, kept what happened a secret."

Lillian nodded furiously. "Please professor," she added pleadingly. She wasn't ready to tell anyone what had transpired between her and Harry and she wasn't even sure what had happened between them and what was going to happen next!

McGonagall pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Fine," she said finally. "But you better go back to your rooms and stay there!" she warned.

"Of course professor, thank you professor," they said together and stumbled into the common room. The portrait closed behind them and they waited with baited breaths to see if the professor was going to come inside.

Harry let out a long drawn sigh and collapsed on to the couch. Lillian settled herself on the cushions near the fire-place and let out a breath as everything that had happened in the last twenty odd minutes caught up with her.

"Who was that girl?" she asked him once she had settled down.

"Luna Lovegood," Harry replied. "The wackiest girl I've ever met."

"Lovegood," Lillian muttered frowning. "Now where have I heard that name before?"

"Flamel mentioned her when we first met him," Harry said. "Luna is her daughter and don't ask me how or why but that girl has the ability to see what's happening in other dimensions."

"What?!" Lillian said; her jaw dropping.

"You heard me."

"I… I don't know what to say," she said in shock. "I mean… are you sure?"

"Oh yeah," Harry said laughing humorlessly.

"Wow," Lillian muttered. "But still, I should be thanking her for tonight," she added with a sly smile.

A grin tugged at Harry's mouth despite his best efforts. "I guess," he admitted.

"What's going to happen now," he asked hesitantly. "I mean our situation is not exactly normal per se and I have no idea what's going on in my head right now."

"Me neither," she whispered. "But I know what I want right now. Do you?"

"I… I think so," Harry said. All this was new territory for him. It was new territory for the both of them.

They fell silent once more but never let their gaze wander from each other. It was easier to understand each other by the emotion their eyes were reflecting.

The crux of the matter was what to do with these feelings that had for each other. Should they act on it and make themselves vulnerable or should they bury it and act like nothing ever happened.

"I don't want to let this go," Lillian said abruptly. "I'd rather give it a shot regardless of this bloody war instead of giving this up."

"We hardly get to spend time together," Harry said softly. "We both have different routines and now it's highly possible for us to attack Voldemort head on and you know I'm not going to stay out of that."

"Screw routines," she said fiercely. "We can work something out and don't forget what I am. Don't forget why Flamel had me trained too. He wanted me to stay by your side."

"I'm used to doing things on my own," Harry said stubbornly.

Lillian got a little angry at that. "So why'd you kiss me then?" she demanded. "Were you just taking advantage of the situation!?"

"You know that not true," Harry retorted sharply. "I do like you and I want to be with you but…"

"But what?! You like me, I like you, let's give it a shot! It's not that complicated or can't your measly brain comprehend that?"

"Freckles, I don't know if it's a good idea that's all!" Harry burst out.

Lillian stood up and stalked over to him. She placed her hands on the sofa on either side of his head and leaned into him.

"I can see you fighting it again," she said staring into his eyes, her face just inches away from his. "I know you want it but that annoying rational part of your brain is giving all the wrong reasons to prevent a good thing from happening."

"You're not wearing a bra," Harry said dryly looking down her robes.

Lillian's eye twitched.

"I know you," she plowed on brushing aside the urge to smack him. "I know you've been alone most your life and to suddenly find yourself having to be in company of an annoying girl like me must be… well annoying but it makes you happy doesn't it? It makes me happy to have you by my side too."

"Do you have any idea how much I hate overly emotional situations," Harry said rolling his eyes. He was purposefully not looking her in the eye. He knew he would give in if he did.

"Harry!" Lillian said angrily. "Stop avoiding this!"

" _Nobody wants to live the last moments of their life with regret."_ Sirius's words resonated in his mind and Harry had to admit, there was a chance he would not make it out of the war alive. It was a terribly sobering thought.

The unbreakable walls that he had placed around his heart began to crumble and he looked into Lillian's eyes. In them he saw determination, strength and dare he say it, _love_ and it was directed at him. The only other person he had seen with such emotion directed at him was Sirius and suddenly everything was clear to him.

"I only have one condition," he said sighing.

"What's that?" Lillian asked cautiously.

"None of this emotional drama should ever happen again and we're good to go."

Lillian smiled broadly and pulled away from him. "We have a deal?" she said sticking out her hand and pretending to be professional.

"Deal," Harry repeated, getting to his feet and shaking her hand firmly. They were in agreement; the relationship was good to go.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Harry, wake up!" Sirius shook Harry roughly for a few seconds but got no response. His godson had fallen asleep on the couch in the Gryffindor common room and Lillian was curled up comfortably near the fire place. Looks like someone had a late night, he thought gleefully.

"Harry, Harry…. Harry wake up!"

"Go away," Harry mumbled sleepily. To Sirius's surprise the girl on the floor stirred and blearily opened her eyes wondering what all the noise was about.

"Sirius?" she said and yawned.

"You and Harry have a late night?" he asked knowingly while he continued to shake his godson.

Lillian was instantly awake. "Me and Harry?" she said innocently. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Sirius said. "Just wondering how come you and he slept in the common room that's all."

"Huh," Lillian said faking surprise. "I wonder when he came in. I was reading a book and was too lazy to get back to my bed and sleep."

"Is that so," Sirius said. He wanted to point out there was no book in sight and he was a witness to their late night encounter but he refrained himself.

"Yup," Lillian said. She got up and stretched her limbs letting out another yawn. "Good luck waking him up," she said. "I've got to get dressed. I promised Hermione that I would go with them for their dueling lessons with professor Lupin."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks," she said. "Oh, and what time is it?"

"Quarter past six."

"Great," she mumbled. "See you around Sirius."

Sirius chuckled and then remembered the real reason he had come here. "Harry wake up you love stuck moron!"

"What do you want Sirius?!" Harry groaned buried his head into the corner of the couch.

"There's a meeting and I think you'll want to be there for this one."

Harry sighed and opened his eyes. He glared at his god father and sat up. "Can't I skip this one?"

"Not one bit," Sirius said. He pointed his wand at Harry and said, " _Levamenovus."_

Almost instantly Harry felt his drowsiness disappear and felt as fresh as he would after a nice shower.

"That was uncalled for Sirius," Harry complained. "That spell is a bastardization of freshening up!"

"Well you don't have time," Sirius said. "Now move it."

Harry grumbled under his breath but got up nonetheless. This meeting had better be a good one, he thought moodily.

When they reached Dumbledore's office Harry was shocked to see its occupants. Dumbledore's office had been magically modified and where his desk once stood, there was a long table with a number of witches and wizards seated around it.

However the shocking part was seeing Lucius, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy in the same room. Lucius and Narcissa were chained to their chairs while Draco was left unchained, but he was shifting uncomfortably when he laid his eyes on Harry.

Harry's shock passed and it gave way to amusement. "Well, well, well," he said chuckling. "Look what we have here."

Harry and Sirius sat down between Remus and Kingsley.

"Where were we?" Dumbledore asked.

"Our friend Lucius was just telling us about the warding schemes in their upcoming cities," Snape said sneering. He seemed to be very satisfied at the state Lucius was in.

"Where did you capture them?" Harry whispered to Remus.

"They got caught in one of our traps outside Hogsmeade," Remus said. "Voldemort wasn't pleased to find out that Draco was tricked. There's a price on their heads now."

Harry chuckled. He knew he shouldn't but he felt a sense of satisfaction at the Malfoy's fall from grace. His attention snapped back to Lucius who continued to drone on about the wards and a list of the people who controlled them.

"Is Voldemort using any form of dark magic?" Harry interrupted.

Lucius thought about it for a minute, "Not that I know of," he said slowly wondering how that was relevant.

Harry just nodded in satisfaction.

"Is there something you would like to tell us Mr. Potter," Croaker asked suspiciously.

Harry gave Dumbledore a look and Dumbledore nodded. Perhaps it was time for the rest to know the deeper history of dark magic.

"Hesita, why don't you take the Malfoy's and lock them in the dungeons. We'll finish their interrogation sometime later," Dumbledore said.

"Am I being kept out of the loop?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

"Of course not," Dumbledore said. "You'll be brought up to speed once you get back."

Hestia paused and then nodded. "Come along you white headed freaks," she barked. She flicked her wand and they chains restraining the elder Malfoy's transformed into handcuffs which chained all three of them. One end floated towards her and she pulled on it roughly.

Draco cried out in pain as the steel dug into his skin. "Careful mudblood," Lucius snarled.

Hestia backhanded him for that and nobody said a word. "You so much as piss me off and I'll have Severus here tear your mind to bits instead of letting you give up information!"

"Now move," she barked.

"She's got a nasty temper," Sarah commented once Hestia had dragged the Malfoy's away.

"You have no idea," Remus muttered. There was a strange look on his face and Harry couldn't quite place it. Was he reminiscing about her temper?

"Back to the matter at hand," Croaker said loudly.

"Do you want to explain or should I?" Dumbledore asked Harry.

Harry thought about it for a minute. "I think I'll do it," he said. "There's a lot more I haven't told you too."

"There's more?" Dumbledore asked astounded. How could there be more to the story than the truth behind the deathly hallows?

Harry glanced around to see who all were there and he recognized almost everyone. Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley, Sarah, Vance, McGonagall, Casey, the Weasley's, Granger, Austin, Elphias, Snape, Bones, and Croaker were present. There were two other witches he didn't recognize and one other woman who, like the General, was dressed in a military uniform.

"All that I ask is that you keep what you hear now to yourselves if you can. Are we clear?" Harry decided to tell them everything. There was no point in keeping it a secret now anyway. Whether the Flamel's were dead or alive didn't matter. They couldn't help even if they wanted to.

There was a murmur of agreement.

Harry summoned his wand surprising the magical population. They had never seen anyone summon a wand with a white flash before. The muggles in their company leaned forward looking fascinated.

"This wand is not just a wand," Harry began. "It was a gift from a vile creature to a man called Antioch Peverell," he said. Harry noticed some of the wizards startle at that name.

"You might have heard the story: _The tale of three brothers._ This is that wand, the deathstick or the wand of destiny. That story is just a cover of the truth. The Peverell's were three very gifted brothers and they lived in a time when a terrible creature roamed the planet. While the magical folk wanted to live and prosper, this creature wanted to end the existence of humans and other creatures and create a world in his image.

"Are you saying the story is real!" gasped Elphias. "That death in the story is this creature!?"

Harry looked annoyed at the interruption. "Yes," he said shortly. "The Peverell brothers managed to defeat the creature but instead of destroying it once and for all, they allowed it to live provided it gave them something in return."

"The wand, the stone and the cloak," Remus muttered.

"The unbeatable wand, the stone that summons the dead and a cloak that renders you invisible to the world," Harry elaborated.

"Wow," Sarah whispered. "How long ago did this happen."

"I'd say way before history began to be recorded on paper."

"Then how do you know it's true?" Croaker questioned.

"I meet someone who was trained by Ignotus Peverell to stop evil."

Dumbledore jerked in surprise. Harry hadn't mentioned that before.

"Evil? What do you mean?" Snape asked.

"That was the name of the creature," Harry said smiling lightly. "You could say this monster was and is the root of all evil."

"Is!? You mean it's still around!" Casey gasped. He was finding it odd that he believed every word coming from the kid's mouth. This magic stuff was simply unreal, he thought.

"It was transformed into what we call dark arts today," Harry said dropping the bombshell. "It lost its power when the brothers defeated it and to regain its power it transformed itself into another form of magic. Whenever a wizard or a witch uses dark magic they are unknowingly giving up their magic and acting as fuel for the creature to regain its strength. It will keep growing stronger until it breaks out of the prison it bound itself in."

Horror was reflected on every face in the room.

"And if this creature escapes its prison, there is no one who can stop its rampage. All this philosophy about the balance between good and evil is nonsense," Harry said scornfully. "At the end of the day, it's going to be us or evil."

"What about the deathstick and your role in all of this," Croaker asked.

"Only someone with the potential to be more powerful than Antioch is capable of wielding this wand," Harry said. "The wand chose me and in other words I'm the only one who can stop this evil if it ever breaks free. That is my purpose…

… my destiny."

"Well shit," deadpanned Casey, killing the tense and solemn atmosphere that was building.

"What about this person you spoke of? The one you said was trained by Ignotus?" Dumbledore asked. He was more interested in that.

"Nicolas Flamel," Harry said smiling and he enjoyed the surprise that flittered through the headmasters eyes.

"Flamel's dead!" shouted half the room.

"Well, then I met his ghost," Harry said smartly.

There was no response to that.

"When and how?" Dumbledore demanded. The philosopher's stone was destroyed! He had made sure of that.

"You remember those two months when Lillian and I went missing?"

"Lillian went missing?" Mr. Austin said, startled. "What are you talking about?!"

"Lillian and I fell through a dimensional portal and ended up in another Earth with bizarre differences. Two months later we somehow made it back but while two months had passed by in the other Earth, hardly a second had passed on this one."

"Nicolas has a portal too and he intercepted you," Dumbledore murmured, quickly connecting the dots. "What were you doing the two months that you were missing then?" he asked.

"Training," Harry replied. "The Flamel's have been aware about the history behind the deathly hallows for centuries and it has been their job to find and train the one capable of defeating evil: meaning me."

"You seem rather alright for someone who has to defeat and kill a monster," Kingsley said.

"I've accepted it," Harry said shrugging.

"So that's why you're so you," Sirius said thoughtfully. "I always wondered why you acted like you have such a huge burden on your shoulders and now I know why." There was no pity, only regret in Sirius's eyes. "You should have told me Harry."

"It doesn't matter," Harry said.

"So let me get this straight," Casey said. "This dark magic that your terrorists use is actually a mutation of a dangerous monster."

Harry nodded.

"And this monster will come back to life if they keep using dark magic."

"That's correct."

"You're the only one who can defeat it if it does come back to life."

Harry nodded again.

"So what does this have anything to do with our current war? Our objective still remains unchanged."

"It has everything to do with this war," Harry said sharply. "The creature requires a vessel to come back to this dimension. Only a person who has immersed his soul deep into dark magic is capable of being a vessel for evil."

"Voldemort," Sirius said. Everything suddenly made sense.

"Yes," Harry said grimly. "His resurrection allowed the creature to take a hold of him and the power he was using when he brought down the London bridge was just a fraction of evil's power."

"And that is why you asked if the dark lord was still using dark magic," Snape said as he finally understood the reason why a dark lord had stopped using dark magic. A cold feeling settled at the bottom of his stomach as he imagined what condition his magical core could be in.

"This is a great story and all but how does this help us?" Casey asked irritably.

"Well one reason I can give you is that all those predictions and prophecies about the end of the world that you'll find in countless religious texts were about this story that I just told you. I have it on good authority."

"Flamel?" Sirius asked.

"Yup and this story is not relevant at all but I figured you'd want to know exactly what we're fighting to prevent. This war dates back millennia and it's not a matter about a dark lord hell-bent on ruling the world. It's a matter of the survival of the entire planet."

"Then why didn't you tell us this before!" Tonks asked.

"Like the general said, it wasn't relevant. But then Croaker asked me a question and I decided to answer truthfully. I hope he understands how relevant I am to this resistance now," he added sarcastically.

"Have you had any contact with the Flamel's?" Croaker asked sourly.

"Not since we left," Harry said. "And there's nothing we can do to contact them or make them help us. Ignotus made them swear an oath not to interfere in our affairs."

"Oath's can be broken," Sarah said quietly, speaking up after having been on the listening side. All this information, it was like she was having a bad dream.

"Not magical ones," Sirius said.

"Harry, can you tell me one thing?" Lillian's father asked.

"Yes?"

"Why was Mary with you when you went to this whole other world place and then to this Flamel persons house?"

Harry looked at Mr. Granger. "It was Hermione's fault," he said smirking. "She showered us with time sand in the wrong place and the wrong time."

" _My_ Hermione?" Mr. Granger asked aghast. "She did something like this?!"

"It wasn't her fault," Dumbledore said quickly.

"Let's not get side tracked here people," Casey barked. "What is our plan of action now? We've successfully bombarded London but Voldemort would have surely placed some of those blasted wards again."

"I have a plan but I think it's time for us to eat. The elves hate it when we miss our meals," he said lightly. "We shall reconvene after breakfast." Everyone recognized Dumbledore's dismissal.

There were multiple sounds of wood scratching the cement floor and everyone began to exit the office. He signaled Harry to stay back while everyone else left.

Dumbledore tapped his wand trice on the table and immediately his office morphed back to its original appearance. "Sit down Harry."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"My plan is not to take on Voldemort's army but to send teams to assassinate those high up in the food chain," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Assassinate!" Harry said impressed. "How are we supposed to pull that off? Wasn't Mr. Slimeball just telling how complicated their wards are?"

"And we have people smart enough to break through those wards," Dumbledore replied. "If we get rid of those on the top, Voldemort will lose the influence he exerts right now. His people are cowards and the moment they realize that hiding behind Voldemort is not safe anymore they will run."

"Where will they run too?" Harry scoffed. "They have nowhere to go except to switch sides and join us…. Oh, you sneaky old man!" Harry exclaimed. "But that still doesn't help us with dealing with that gargantuan army of his. I heard Warlow telling Kingsley that mountain trolls, magically strengthened acromantula and certain mythical beasts have been added to the ranks of his army."

"Oh I think the muggle army will be more than capable of dealing with that threat," Dumbledore said. "The more pressing issue is the brains behind that army."

"I guess you're right," Harry said. "So who have you decided to send for this mission?"

"How's your occlumency coming along?" Dumbledore redirected.

Harry smiled. "I have a feeling I'll have my break through soon enough," he said. After last night, he felt lighter, freer.

"Good, Dumbledore said, "Because I want you to be on one of the assassination teams."

"What?!"

Dumbledore pulled out a file from his drawer. "These are the list of wizards who are very important to Voldemort. These wizards are very skilled in their respective fields and I'd feel a lot better if they weren't working for Voldemort."

"What kind of skills?" Harry asked. He was still trying to wrap his head around Dumbledore request. The man who had disapproved of him killing death eaters was now asking him to kill, no murder wizards under Voldemort's employment.

"Potion masters, Runic masters, Spell weavers, creationists, the list is endless," Dumbledore sighed. "Also he has several muggle scientists holed up somewhere working on various projects for him."

Harry took the file from Dumbledore and flicked through the profiles. There were some with a capture or kill option but many with the words assassinate printed across their picture.

"None of the names on this list are in London," Harry said frowning.

"London is too dangerous to infiltrate. We're going to focus outside London for now. Now, you can choose your own team for the mission or I can assign a three man team to you. You're going to need a ward breaker, a healer and a man to finish the job," Dumbledore said.

"I'll choose my own team," Harry said without hesitation. There was no way he was going to be saddled with condescending adults.

"I gather that means you accept."

"You had a doubt? When do I leave?"

"When you're occlumency has progressed and Ms. Walker is satisfied with your skill in hand to hand combat."

"If that is all do you mind if I leave?" Harry asked respectfully. He had a lot to think about.

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "I'll send you a patronus if we need you and do think on who you want on your team."

"Yes sir," Harry said and he left.

"I am definitely going to hell for this," Dumbledore sighed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After the meeting with Dumbledore Harry had gone to his private chamber to think and meditate. If Dumbledore had told him about this mission two days back he was gleefully accepted but after what happened with Lillian he was slightly unsure. This was exactly the kind of situation he feared would happen when he decided to take things forward with Lillian.

A strange longing swelled in his chest and for the first time in his life he wished he was just another normal kid, with a normal family. He really liked Lillian, that he could no longer deny, but he could not afford to go soft, not now and not when it was his responsibility to defeat Voldemort.

"Get a hold of yourself Harry!" he scolded.

It was late in the afternoon when he made a decision and went to look for Lillian. He found her in the Gryffindor common room with Hermione and Ron.

"Hey!" she greeted jumping to her feet. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you all morning!"

"I was with Dumbledore," Harry said smiling. "Could I have a word in private?"

Ron and Hermione looked at the two suspiciously and Hermione narrowed her eyes when she noticed Lillian blushing slightly.

"Sure," she said indifferently and followed Harry out of the common room.

Harry looked to his left, then to his right and then kissed her.

Lillian giggled. "You have no idea how out of character this is for you."

"Tell me about it," Harry said fervently. "I feel an idiot right about now."

Lillian pulled him in for another heated kiss. "Now we're both idiots," she said laughing. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Not here," Harry said and led her to an empty classroom that was not yet converted into a makeshift bedroom. They didn't notice a disillusioned and shell shocked Ron and Hermione who witnessed their lip lock.

"Oh. My. God," breathed Ron.

"You just stole the words from my tongue," Hermione squeaked. Looks the disillusion charm that Remus had taught them had finally come to use. "Should we follow them?"

Ron just gave her a look.

"It was a rhetorical question," Hermione said hastily. They followed the two to an empty classroom but before they could sneak in the door was slammed shut and locked.

"Locked," Hermione cursed.

"Well than unlock it!" Ron hissed.

"And they won't notice two disillusioned bodies enter through a door which has just been closed will they," Hermione said sarcastically.

"What we supposed to do then! We can't leave her alone in there, we have to save her!" he said panicking.

Hermione rolled her eyes and smacked him.

"Bloody hell Hermione," he swore loudly.

"Keep your voice down and what do you mean save her moron. They're obviously in a relationship now," she said. "They're no need to _save her_ as you so eloquently put it."

Ron scowled, rubbing his head. "I don't believe for a second Mary could fall for a guy like that," he said stubbornly. "He's obviously got her under some spell."

Hermione smacked him again and then punched his arm.

"Will you stop that!"

"Come on," she said dragging him away. "We shouldn't have followed them in the first place."

"But."

"No buts! Now move it Ronald Weasley. I only pray to god that one day he blesses you with eyes with the ability to _see_ instead of just seeing."

"Huh?"

"Come on!"

Back inside the classroom Lillian was sitting on the teacher's desk, swinging her legs while she stared at the opposite wall solemnly.

Harry had just told her about his mission and she couldn't help but feel a little crushed. So this is what happens in an end of the world scenario, she thought glumly. You don't have the right to put your feelings before anything else.

"So I guess you'll be leaving then?" she asked listlessly.

"Actually, I was going to ask you to come with me."

Lillian turned to him, startled.

"And I'm a little surprised that you didn't insist on coming with me," Harry said.

"I wanted to ask!" she protested immediately, her voice bubbling at the edges of happiness. She knew going on a mission to kill people was nothing to be happy about and it was actually quite gruesome but Harry had asked her, he had actually asked her!

She clenched the edges of the table to prevent her body from launching into Harry. "So what made you think of me first," she asked, trying to be calm and composed.

"Well, Dumbledore for a mission like this we need someone who can heal, someone who is experienced with slipping past wards and someone who can kill without flinching. Perenelle and Nicolas taught the both of us rudimentary healing skills. You're teleportation ability can get past any ward in existence and I was taught how to kill without remorse."

The last line dampened her excitement. She remembered with vivid clarity that day when Harry came back drenched in blood with his eyes as vacant as a dead person.

"I didn't come to this decision lightly," Harry said, bringing her attention back to him. "I thought about it for hours, made combinations of teams comprising every able fighter that we have and ultimately I realized you and I together; we're lethal."

Lillian blushed. "Well now you're just flattering me."

"But can you handle watching me kill someone in cold blood?" he asked. His voice was hesitant; he didn't want her to reject him because of his ability to take life. He waited with bated breath for her answer.

He didn't have to wait long at all. "You don't have to ask me that," she said sharply. "Have you forgotten? I didn't care then and I don't care now. We all have to do things that are vile but necessary sometimes. I haven't forgotten what our world has turned into because of one man's greed and if killing the monsters that help him is necessary than I'll see it done standing right by your side."

She said it so fiercely that even Harry was intimidated by her, although he recovered from _that_ momentary lapse swiftly and smiled at her charmingly.

"Well Ms. Austin," he said formally. "I guess we are, once more, in agreement."

He stuck out his hand and waited for her response.

The fire elemental jumped down from the table and walked up to Harry, her face betrayed not a single emotion.

She stuck out her hand and they shook. "We are in agreement," she too, said formally.

"I hope this doesn't become a standard thing for us," Harry said chuckling.

Hmm, I don't know," Lillian said pretending to think hard. "I kinda like it."

"So who's going to tell your dad that we're going on mission together? And I can imagine how displeased Dumbledore is going to be with this."

Lillian paled at the mention of her father. "Uh, can we not mention what sort of mission this is to him," she said nervously.

"I don't see how that's going to work out," Harry said drily. "We're not the only ones going on this mission. There are going to be many other teams with different targets. He's bound to find out sooner or later."

"Bollocks," she cursed, her eyes scrunched up in worry. "Dad might have handled me going to Germany to stop a meltdown surprisingly well but when he found out I killed a vampire which almost ended me, he was not pleased at all."

"Well it's not his fault you froze like some sissy woman," Harry said reasonably.

Lillian gave him a nasty look. "Come on," she said loftily. "Let's go talk to Dumbledore and get this done with."

"I was just kidding Freckles," Harry teased.

"Ha ha, you're such a barrel of laughter," she said sarcastically. " _Wanker_ ," she added under her breath.

Harry just rolled his eyes at the insult.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As it turned out Dumbledore was not pleased at all with Harry's decision and argued against it vehemently but Harry stood firm.

"The Flamel's didn't train us for nothing Dumbledore," he said. "If they thought Lillian would be irrelevant in this war they would have simply obliviated her and sent her back to Hogwarts!"

"Harry she hasn't taken a life yet and I intend to keep it that way," Dumbledore said staunchly.

"She is a fire elemental Dumbledore. She can waltz her way past any ward Voldemort can throw at us and I can't believe we did not use her to infiltrate London. As you said earlier this is war and in war sacrifices must be made. If you're so comfortable with sending me on an assassination mission what's wrong with someone with the same capabilities as me!"

Harry paused.

"Well not the same capabilities as me but close enough!"

"Harry she doesn't need to have her soul tainted!"

"And who said she'll be doing the killing! That's my job. Her job is to get us into places that no one else can," Harry retorted.

"I am right here you know," an annoyed Lillian said. She had been watching them throw argument upon argument at each other and she had, had enough.

"Ms Austin," Dumbledore began.

"My soul is my own and I decide what happens to it professor," she said. "I did not volunteer to take part in this mission. Harry chose _me._ You know how he doesn't care whether I participate in this war or not but this time around us together on such a mission provides a great tactical advantage." Dumbledore didn't know about the recent developments between them and she intended to keep it that way. She also didn't know what she was saying but didn't care as long as it sounded smart.

"Nicolas told me there would be a time when only I could provide the necessary strength Harry needs to fight and I believe this is one of those times." That was a disguised lie too; Nicolas had meant if evil somehow broke free of its bonds, her power would be efficacious to their survival.

Dumbledore sighed wearily and sank back into his chair. "Why do the young have to be so stubborn," he grumbled.

Harry and Lillian just stared, waiting for his response.

"You know we have wizards and witches who are just as capable as you are without the added bonus of being an elemental."

"Fortunately we have that added bonus," Harry shot back. "It's going to be just the two of us Dumbledore. You don't have to dump a baby sitter on us."

"I'm not worried about the power the two of you can pack together," he said. "It's the inexperience I'm worried about."

"I'm experienced enough," Harry said.

"No you're not," Dumbledore rebutted harshly.

"We have to start somewhere," Lillian said logically. "It's unfortunate our start had to be in such circumstances but you said it yourself, this is war."

"Stop using that dialogue on me," Dumbledore snapped. It was unlike him to let his annoyance show so visibly but these elementals were stretching it to its limits.

"Well?" Harry demanded. "Do we get that file or not?"

"Fine," Dumbledore acquiesced. "You can tell your godfather you're going on an assassination mission with an inexperienced girl who has never had to take or watch a life being taken and you, Lillian, can tell your father that you're leaving him to watch people being murdered!" This was Dumbledore's last ditch attempt to convince them otherwise. If it didn't work nothing would work.

Hurt flashed through Lillian's eyes and Dumbledore felt a little guilty for saying that, only a little. Harry on the other hand just rolled his eyes. Albus waited, hoping that the girl would change her mind.

Well?" Harry asked again when Lillian didn't back down.

Dumbledore finally gave up. "Complete the first stage of occlumency and I'll give you your mission."

Harry looked like he wanted to argue but he withdrew. "Anything else?" he asked mockingly, infuriating the headmaster.

"No Harry," Dumbledore replied politely, perhaps too politely. "You may leave and Lillian, I hope you understand the level of danger on this mission. Please prepare yourself accordingly. If and when Harry makes his breakthrough in the mind arts, you will be on your own with no aid at all."

"Yes professor," she said shying away from his penetrating eyes. "I know the risk." She remembered the test Flamel had put them through when they first arrived and her confidence and self belief grew. She was ready for this.

"Well that went well," Lillian said once they were about two wings away from Dumbledore's office.

"It could have been worse," Harry agreed. "But I have to ask…." He stopped seeing the look on Lillian's face. "Alright I won't." But Harry knew; he knew the emotions and the change that murder can bring about in a person's psyche. Especially the changes that occur in the psyche of an elemental. He had gone through them and he was still fearful of the changes that it was bringing in him.

"Don't forget I was there when we saw all those slaughtered muggles," she said quietly. "Killing a vampire may not count as taking a human life but…"

"It's not the same," Harry said immediately. "But don't worry about that. For now let's worry about handling your father and Sirius's reaction when they find out."

Lillian groaned. "That's going to be one painful conversation."

"I think yelling would be more appropriate," Harry said grinning wryly.

Lillian frowned when she noticed Harry was not heading to the common room. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"You're going back to the common room or wherever you feel like going," he said. "I'm going to master a certain art."

"Hmmm, good luck with that," she said. "I think I'll go and have a few rounds with Sarah."

"Kick her arse for me will you?" Harry cheekily requested.

Lillian snorted, "Fat chance of that happening without magic. See you at dinner?"

"We'll see," he muttered.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his room behind the statue of the mermaid and it had been close to eight hours since he had shut his eyes and fallen into a trance. Of course he didn't know that. Maybe he was aware of the first couple of hours but the deeper he sunk into his meditative state. The more lost he was to his surroundings.

It took him eight hours but Harry had finally breached the barrier that had frustrated him for almost a year now.

The aim: reaching a perfect state of thoughtlessness. It was unlike anything Harry had every felt and it wasn't what he expected at all. He felt like his brain was on fire. He could not think, he could not move, he could not snap out of it. One moment he was meditating and the next every memory his cerebrum had accumulated over 14 years and ten months of his life were being revisited at lightening speeds. Memories from the moment he left his mother's womb to the moment he sat down and closed his eyes eight hours ago; he could see everything and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It was mental agony. There was a certain speed the brain operated at and that speed had multiplied exponentially.

He had to endure that torture for another two hours before his eyes snapped opened and he emptied the contents of his stomach on the floor.

"Merlin," Harry gasped. He quickly stretched his arm and took support of the chair nearby to prevent himself from fainting. His head was spinning violently and he needed to hold on to something. Images were still flashing before his eyes distorting his vision but there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It took a while but steadily his control returned and the veil that had fallen over his eyes was lifted.

"No wonder it is an obscure branch of magic," Harry gasped hoarsely as he picked himself up. He still felt a little dizzy and he gently lowered himself on to the bed and lay down with a sigh. The proverbial sledgehammer that was banging his head was showing no signs of letting up.

If you didn't have the mental strength to keep up with the trauma of having to view so many memories in such a short period. You could go insane. Harry understood that now and he couldn't believe Dumbledore didn't warn him about this!

But he could feel it now. He just had to concentrate a bit and he could view any memory of he wanted with vivid clarity. It felt unreal. Initially he had expected to fall into some sort of inner world similar to world he had been pulled into his magical core but it wasn't anything like it. It was, for a lack of better words, _different._

The shields, he realized, were of two kinds. One was a regular sheet of magic you maintained around your mind using your imagination, creativity and intent. The other was not really a shield at all. It was the art of allowing a legilimens to view your memories but at the same time skillfully hide the ones that were important without betraying the fact that you were hiding them. _That_ _was the real skill an occlumens had to master!_

The best way to describe the magic behind occlumency was like watching and sorting his memories through a third eye. It was a disconcerting feeling that would take some time to get used to. But for now, he had finally succeeded and he felt even more powerful than before.


	53. Part 2 - Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Departure**

 **Headmaster's Office**

"Are you sure he's on the verge of the flash?" Snape asked Dumbledore skeptically. To become an occlumens at fourteen was simply ridiculous.

"He got the feeling," Dumbledore said with a sigh. Snape's eyes widened. "But he's just fourteen!"

"He'll be fifteen next month," Sirius said proudly. "Why did you call just us and not a full meeting Albus?"

Dumbledore steepled his fingers and looked at the men and woman in front of him. He had wondered whom should he discuss the Harry and Lillian situation and had finally decided on Sirius, for obvious reasons; Sarah, who had become surprisingly close to the two in the sort time that they knew each other; and after a lot of thought, the General and Severus were in the party of four. The General was there, because he was going to co-ordinate the missions when he was gone looking for some very dangerous dragons and Severus was present to give a biased evaluation of Harry's occlumency.

"I'm sending Harry on an assassination mission," Dumbledore said, deciding to be blunt.

"WHAT?!" Sirius burst out jumping out of his chair.

There were identical looks of shock on Sarah and Casey's faces as well. Snape, as always, was perfectly composed.

"Are you out of your mind Mr. Dumbledore?" Sarah said disbelievingly. "Harry's barely fifteen and I know you all say he's powerful but assassination?!"

"Are you fit to lead this resistance Albus?" Casey growled.

"Albus no! You can't let him do this," Sirius pleaded.

"It is necessary," Dumbledore said regretfully. "And please tell me what have you heard about Mr. Potter; General, Miss Walker," he asked turning to the two muggles.

"Just what you've told us," Casey said icily. "Very powerful and gifted kid and I don't think any of us have forgotten that story he told us. The entire result of this war hinges upon him."

"That doesn't mean we have to send him on a mission to murder people," Sarah said angrily. She was the CIA's best assassin and she could not believe these people were considering sending a fifteen year old on such a mission!

Dumbledore sighed. "You shouldn't worry about that," he said. "Harry Potter slaughtered over fifty death eaters when London was attacked."

Stunned silence greeted him. Except for Sirius who was staring at his hands miserably and Snape, well he was Snape.

"Mercilessly," Dumbledore added.

"Tha-that's not possible," Sarah said, shocked. "I mean he looks so…" She trailed off. She couldn't believe this.

Casey on the other hand looked very impressed. "So that's why you allow him to sit in on our meetings and hold him in such high regard. Everything makes sense now."

"This is nothing to be impressed about General," Sirius said hotly. "He shouldn't be put such a position. I mean he's recovering so bloody well!"

"Recovering? Recovering from what?"

"Isolation," Harry's godfather said coldly. "He's finally connecting with people and this will only serve to erase whatever empathy he has left!"

"Harry is not who I'm concerned about Sirius," Dumbledore said.

"What?"

"He intends to go on this mission with Ms Austin alone."

"Is he out of his bloody mind?!" Sirius roared. "Does Donald know about this?"

"Am I hearing this correctly?" Sarah said skeptically. "Now it's not just one homicidal teenager going on an assassination mission but a non homicidal teenager is going along with him? Oh, and might I add, they are two hormonal teenagers!"

"That is why I want you all to try to change their minds," Dumbledore sighed.

Sirius sank into his chair looking thoroughly depressed. "What is wrong with this day?" he groaned.

"Where is Potter?" Snape asked quietly.

"Probably somewhere getting ready for his flash," Dumbledore said.

Snape nodded and gracefully turned around, leaving the room.

"Where are you going Severus?" Sirius asked loudly before the man would step out of the door.

"I'm going to meet Ms. Austin's father and inform him of the decision his daughter has made. He is responsible for her and I'm sure he'll have a few words to say about this."

"I had hoped to resolve this without having to traumatize the man," Dumbledore said frowning. "Step inside Severus."

Snape hesitated for a moment. "You can't keep her father in the dark like this," he said unsympathetically. "Potter might be killer but she is not." That said he slammed the wooden door shut and left.

"Are they going to be the only ones going on this mission?" Casey asked frowning.

"Of course not," Dumbledore replied. "I have five teams in mind but if Lillian joins Harry then we have six."

"Great!" Casey said. "The more the merrier."

"General!" Sarah said indignantly. "You can't be seriously thinking about sending them into the field! They're kids for god's sake!"

"And this is the apocalypse agent Walker," Casey said. "Don't forget that and don't forget how you became an agent and how old were you when the agency took you in," he added. "Now tell me about the teams Albus."

Dumbledore summoned the file Warlow had compiled. "Our first target is Abraham Lopez," he began.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lillian couldn't take this anymore. She didn't know what had happened to the day which had started out so brightly. It had suddenly descended into madness.

She was standing in one corner of her father's room intently focused on her breathing and the interesting vibrations that it made in her throat to drown out the voices of her father, Ron and Hermione. One minute she was literally skipping to the great hall, her stomach rumbling and mood soaring but then she was ambushed by Ron and Hermione who bombarded her with questions about Harry and her.

She didn't even have time to express her shock at them knowing before her father and Severus bloody Snape came thundering towards her looking absolutely furious. He had dragged her to his room and began to yell about her not caring about anyone and being selfish and thinking war is just a big joke to her. She had initially tried to protest and argue but gave up when she realized it was fruitless.

Now it was just a cacophony that she was drowning in. She wanted Harry desperately; she wanted to disappear to his side but he was in the middle of something important. She could not disturb him so she thought about their kiss and smiled.

That just seemed to infuriate her tormenters and the decibel level grew even higher. When were they going to stop? She was so tempted to scream and rage right back at them for being selfish themselves and not looking at the bigger picture but she restrained herself. It was hard but she somehow managed it and credited her admirable resistance to her new relationship.

Wait, she thought suddenly. Why was there silence?

She looked up and saw them glaring at her. Well, it was her father and Ron who were glaring at her and Hermione looked ready to kill Ron.

Now when did that happen? She wondered. Wasn't Hermione yelling at her?

"Do I make myself clear Lillian Mary Austin?" her father growled at her.

"Absolutely," she said nodding her head vigorously. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and eat something. I was really hungry before you unceremoniously dragged me in front of a million people. Now I'm famished and I'd like to eat."

"Potter's bad news Mary!" Ron said. His face was redder than ever.

"What?" Mr. Austin barked.

"Will you shut your mouth, you insensitive prick!" Hermione screamed. "Sorry Mr. Austin!" she added apologetically.

"What did you just mean about Potter?" Mr. Austin asked, narrowing his eyes.

Uh oh, time to go, Lillian thought quickly. She'd deal with her friends later.

"You wait right there young lady!"

"Shut up!" Lillian screamed. "I hate you all!"

That said she stalked out the room and roughly shoved Ron out of her way when he tried to stop her. After she was a good distance away and she was sure no one was following her, she grinned broadly. She was a little surprised that all that drama hadn't really bothered her. Her little bout of screaming had just been an act. Maybe now they'd approach her with a little caution instead of with all guns blazing.

She felt bad about leaving her father like that though. He just didn't want to see her get hurt and she knew that but that didn't mean he could treat her like that! She wasn't six anymore, she thought glumly. Treating her friends and father in such a fashion didn't make her feel good at all.

"Now which way was the kitchen," she mumbled. Maybe some bacon would cheer her up.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry stumbled out of his room and nearly crashed into the suit of armor at the opposite side of the mermaid statue. He was finding it difficult to control his occlumency. He felt like he was watching two pictures at the same time. One: the present and two: his memories.

"How am I supposed to turn this thing off!" he grumbled. Taking support of the wall, he closed his eyes and imagined a bubble around his mind. A bubble that only he could slip through and access at will.

He blinked in surprise when the headache he was having receded almost instantaneously and his double vision disappeared.

" _Tempus."_

It was close to midnight Harry realized. It would be fun to burst into Dumbledore's office now, he thought snickering. "I'll bet that old man never expected me to progress!"

"Got to send a patronus to Freckles too," he said to himself. Summoning one of his happy memories, he raised his wand and said, " _Expecto Patronum!"_

A silver polar bear majestically burst out of his wand and stopped when it noticed that there was no danger. It turned around and floated towards its master; it's eyes boring into Harry's. Harry smiled and ran his fingers through its body. "Go to Lillian and tell her to meet me at the entrance to Dumbledore's office."

The big animal nodded and disappeared in a wisp, leaving a silver trail behind.

Lillian was sitting on the railing of the astronomy tower. She had been avoiding contact all through the day and was beginning to get very annoyed with Harry. How long was he going to take? She thought irritably.

Her thought process was rudely interrupted when a gigantic polar bear materialized right next to her and nearly scared her into falling off the tower.

" _Meet me at the entrance to Dumbledore's office,"_ it spoke in Harry's voice and then the patronus disappeared. Excitement bubbled inside her. Had Harry done it? She jumped off the railing and hurried towards the gargoyle hiding the entrance.

She ran all the way and was glad she didn't run into anyone unwanted. She was understandably out of breath when she reached the gargoyle and a smirking Harry was calmly waiting for her.

"You look like you ran all the way," Harry commented unnecessarily.

"I was getting tired of waiting," she said. Harry sensed he annoyance in her voice but didn't push the matter. "Did you do it?"

His grin said it all.

"Sugar plums," Harry said, turning to the gargoyle. "Correct," the ancient gargoyle rumbled and leaped aside.

The two were startled when, at the same time, three people stepped out.

"Harry, Lillian!" Sirius exclaimed. "Just the retards we were looking for."

Harry narrowed his eyes, "Retards?" he said dangerously.

Sirius just grinned unrepentantly. There was more emotion lurking behind his eyes and Harry could see he was barely holding back the urge to start screaming his head off.

"The General's expecting you Harry," Sarah said. "Lillian you're coming with us."

"Wait why?" she asked apprehensively.

"Come on girl," Croaker said impatiently. "We haven't got all night. Potter, you can go upstairs."

Harry looked at the three adults suspiciously. He then exchanged a glance with Lillian and they silently agreed to listen…. for now.

"See you in a bit," Harry said.

When Harry entered the office, it was just the General sitting behind the mahogany desk. Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen and naturally that was the first question that came to the forefront of his mind.

"Where's Dumbledore?"

"Professor or Mister Dumbledore," Casey corrected. "That man more than a century older than you kid. A little respect wouldn't go amiss."

"Fine, where's professor Dumbledore," Harry deadpanned.

"On some mythical quest," Casey replied rolling his eyes. "I tend to ignore the details when it comes to fantasy."

Casey pulled out one of the many cigars sticking out of his front pocket and expertly lit it.

Few of the portraits coughed loudly.

"Shut it you morons," Casey snapped. "Paintings can't smell smoke!"

"We can pretend can't we?!" one of the past headmistress squawked indignantly.

"I don't know how Albus put up with these talking pictures," Casey said to the silent Harry. "They're as annoying as a bunch of mosquitoes buzzing around my head."

"I'd imagine you'd have to be a little crazy to endure their nonsensical prattling," Harry said taking a seat. Rude gestures and loud protests followed that little comment.

Casey grunted in agreement and tossed a file at Harry.

"Nicolai Wanbosi," he said. "Potions master and mastermind behind the Montova disaster."

"He's the man responsible for Montova?" Harry said, inhaling sharply.

"Apparently," Casey said. "There are things in these file that I can't wrap my head around and even begin to understand but there's one thing I understand perfectly," he said and puffed on his cigar. "This man needs to be killed."

Harry flicked through the file impassively. "There's no known location," he said frowning.

"He's hiding out somewhere in Ireland," Casey grunted. "It's your job to find him; kill him; and put an end to whatever warped project Voldemort has him working on."

"And what is he working on?"

"Doesn't matter," Casey said. "Whatever it is, it can't be good if it something Voldemort cooked up in that twisted mind of his. Add Nicolai's own brand of twistedness and you get a very dangerous cocktail."

Harry nodded. His eyes spied several dozen more files similar to the one he was holding next to the general.

"Different missions for different teams," Casey said following Harry's gaze.

"When do I leave?" Harry asked.

Casey smiled and leaned back into his chair. "You know, everyone is every against your idea of taking a girl, who for all intent and purpose is immature, inexperienced in battle and is, well, is a little girl."

"You don't know her at all then. Her skills make her prefect for battle," Harry said defensively.

"I agree," Casey said surprising Harry. "Mr. Dumbledore told us about how you two combined your powers to take down a dragon and how you sliced through the enemy just after that."

Harry stilled. He had figured Dumbledore would not want the story of his cold bloodedness spread.

"And while I do have many questions as would anyone who has just been introduced to this freak world and freak Armageddon; I just have one for you."

"What is it?"

"When was the first time you killed a man?"

The question hit Harry like a hammer on an anvil and now thanks to his occlumency, his memory of that night was too easy to recall and with a little effort he pulled himself of it and looked into the knowing eyes of the general.

"Nobody can kill so many men without having done it before," Casey said. "So when did you get accustomed to the sight of death and blood."

"Perenelle Flamel," Harry said hoarsely. The memory still haunted him from time to time. "She brought five convicted murderers and killed the first by slitting his throat without the slightest hesitation."

Casey calmly watched Harry and listened carefully. The first was always the worst.

"She then handed me the knife and told me the rest four were mine to dispose and I wasn't allowed to leave until all of them were dead."

Harry went silent and Casey continued to smoke.

"It took me an hour to find the strength to drive the knife through the first one's heart. It was woman and I missed and punctured her lung instead."

Casey's eyebrows shot up and he winced internally. It would have taken hours for the woman to die.

"The second convict, a man, I stabbed him cleanly and he died quite fast. By the time I killed the fourth I no longer felt the revulsion I felt at first."

"What do you feel now, when you take a life? Is it guilt or pleasure?"

The look in Harry's eye told the general all he needed to know.

"I see," he said quietly. "Then I suppose there is nothing left for me to say except don't get caught."

"Why did Sirius and Sarah want with Lillian?" Harry asked.

"Oh, they found her already?" Casey said in surprise.

"She was with me and we ran into them downstairs."

"They're probably in that training room Walker set up, trying to change her mind and if that fails equipping her with things they feel she would need."

"Like what?"

"Find out for yourself," Casey said shrugging. "Is your mission clear?"

"Find Nicolai; kill him; destroy his base; and try to extract more information if possible."

"Snape has, what you call it," he said frowning, "Ah, a portkey to take you to Dublin. Once there you're going to have to find his base on your own. We don't have any clues to its location except that it's in Ireland and it's supposedly somewhere to the north-west of the city."

"Good Luck."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Before Harry went to the training room, he went to his own and filled up a bottomless backpack with the things he felt would be important for the mission. A few books about wards, healing and runes that he had been reading; clothes obviously; several potions and of course, his invisibility cloak; were all packed inside. He was tempted to take Slytherin's pensive along but he decided against it.

Hedwig was visible from the window. She was gracefully gliding in the sky above the beautiful valley, her white feathers almost glowing under the light of the full moon and Harry couldn't help but smile. He watched her for some time, enjoying the sight that brought him a little peace of mind before slinging the bag on his shoulder and leaving.

When Harry entered the training room, there were more people than he expected to find. Donald, Lillian's father was sullenly glaring at his daughter from one end of the room. Croaker and a curly-haired, thin, tall lanky man, were explaining something to Lillian. Severus, Sirius and Sarah were watching the proceedings idly.

As soon as Donald laid eyes on Harry, rage entered them. "This is all your fault!" he burst out furiously. "If it weren't for you Lillian wouldn't be involved in this god forsaken war!"

"Dad shut up!" Lillian yelled. "We've had this conversation already haven't we?!"

Mr. Austin stared at his daughter and Harry murderously before huffing and storming out of the room.

Harry was bemused at the man's reaction but didn't dwell on it. People blaming him for something he wasn't responsible for? That was old news now. "Are you ready?" he asked Lillian.

Harry felt something enter his mind and almost carelessly slip past the bubble he had put up around his mind before Lillian could reply and immediately he focused on his occlumency to see what the alien magic was after. It seemed to be focusing on the Flamel's and Harry began to bring forth unimportant memories like classes with McGonagall, Snape and so on but kept pushing the memories of the Flamel's as far away from the probe as possible.

A few seconds later the magic vanished and Harry met Snape's eyes.

"Well?"

"Not bad," Snape admitted grudgingly. "Had I been more forceful and more lethal I would have gotten to those memories. Your skill as a beginner is admirable but you still have a long way to go in perfecting the art."

Harry grinned. Snape complimenting him meant he had done it right and done it well.

"You were supposed to say he sucks and he can't go Snape," Sirius exclaimed.

"I'm not a liar like you dog," Snape retorted.

"Anyway!" Lillian interrupted before the two childhood enemies got going. "Do you have one for Harry too?" she asked the curly haired man.

"Have what?"

"The new DOMS 1000," the man said proudly, removing a gun from the big pockets on his white lab coat.

"Gun?"

"Not just any gun but a magical gun. A gun made of the stuff dreams are made of. A gun…" the man said, smiling broadly. He looked like a child presenting the world's coolest toy… and it was.

"Get on with it Chuck," Sarah snapped, irritably.

"Ri-right."

Behind him Lillian grinned, waving her new weapon at him.

"It has a wooden core covered in silver metal allowing a normal pistol to be charmed with magic. This baby can magically reproduce over a thousand bullets before requiring at least a day to recharge. You experience no recoil and the shot is as silent as a scream of terror beyond our atmosphere. Your enemies won't know what hit them and all they will see is the life escaping their bodies. All that matters is your ability to hit the target and your level of tolerance to see the blood spurting out the enemy's body," he said dramatically.

"Nice," Harry said impressed and held out his hand. Chuck handed the gun to him and turned to Sarah. "Listen Sarah, I know we didn't leave things in the best possible ways but do you think we could…"

"Save it Chuck," she said coldly. "I don't want to hear it. Let's see how good you are with that Harry," she said instead.

Harry's eyes swiveled between the crestfallen Chuck and the stoic Sarah and shrugged while he marveled at how light the gun was. "What to make it a contest?" he asked Lillian twirling the gun between his fingers.

"Aim and shoot. That's it, right?" Lillian confirmed with Croaker. The man nodded.

They began almost at the same time. The wooden practice dummies were the targets and they unloaded as many shots as they could into them.

They only sound that came from the weapons was a slight spit and apart from that it was still and silent.

"This is amazing!" Lillian gushed.

Harry too, was impressed. "A perfect weapon for an assassination," he said.

"Glad you like it," Croaker said eyeing the bulk of holes that had appeared in the middle of the dummies. Both the teens were almost equal in skill. "You have no idea what kind of hell my team went through to make that thing."

"The concept wasn't hard," Chuck interjected. "It was the implementation that was near impossible. It's a perfect blend of magic and technology."

"How'd you do it?" Harry asked.

Chuck was ready to reply but one glare from Croaker shut him up. "It's a secret," Chuck muttered. "Can't risk the magopaths finding out." Croaker scowled at the shortened word his scientists had come for magical psychopaths and he didn't find it amusing at all.

"What about the portkey?" Harry asked Sirius. Chuck's head dropped when he realized no one paying attention to him anymore.

Sirius hesitated. "Are you sure about this Harry?"

Harry narrowed his eyes.

Sirius sighed and tossed a toy soldier to his godson. "The activation code is your target's name. You're free to leave whenever you want. You will not have any contact with us for fear of alerting the enemy to your location. Once you complete your mission come back immediately and do not under any circumstances stray away from your designated task."

Harry and Lillian nodded.

"You two nerds can beat it," Sarah said, glaring at Chuck which made everyone wonder what could that weak looking man have done to make the hot blond look like she wanted to gut him. "Severus, you can report to Casey that Harry was successful," she added.

"Sarah please listen, I just want to say…."

BANG!

Chuck's face white with fear as a bullet missed his foot by a centimeter.

"I don't want to hear it!" she spat. "Come on Lillian," she said, her voice turning soft. "Let me show you how exactly a woman hides a gun."

Lillian blushed but followed the assassin to the other room leaving the males behind.

"What did you do to her?" Sirius asked wide-eyed.

"Don't ask," he said glumly and then trudged out of the room following Snape and Croaker.

That left Harry and Sirius alone.

"Nice shooting," Sirius said.

"Perenelle made sure of it," Harry muttered. "Unfortunately her method was more painful that Nicolas's."

"Don't ask," Harry added.

"Have you taken the necessary supplies?" his godfather asked instead.

Harry nodded.

"Catch," Sirius said and threw a small pouch at him.

"What's this?"

"Canned food; enough to last for a year and if you're any good at transfiguring or charming food, you can change those bland nutrients to taste like pot roast or whatever your heart desires."

"Huh, nice," Harry said raising his eyebrows. He made a mental note to master the transfiguration of eatables. It was definitely a useful skill to have.

"Lastly be careful. This is your first mission on your own. Don't use magic too often or else you might alert the enemy. There are certain wards that can detect magic from a distance."

"You already said that," Harry reminded.

Sirius ignored him and continued. "You might come across muggle survivors but do not attempt to help them until your mission is over. The elimination of your target is more important the saving the lives of a few muggles."

Harry's eyes moved to the door behind which Sarah was almost definitely embarrassing Lillian.

"You're the leader on this mission irrespective of your feelings," Sirius said quietly, noticing where Harry was looking. "Don't forget that."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Far up North**

Dumbledore trudged through the deep snow in the midst of what he was sure was an unnatural magical blizzard. Even through the multitude of heating charms he had placed on his body, the cold still managed to make its way to down to his bones. Warming charms weren't enough to prevent frostbite. He had to literally increase his body temperature to way beyond normal and it was only because of magic he hadn't collapsed.

He stopped; drew his wand and focused on the tracking charm. "Point me," he whispered and once again the wand pointed straight ahead and Dumbledore sighed. He had been walking for hours now and according to the magic of the locator charm, the dragon that had escaped from London was still a kilometer in front of him.

Was the dragon aware of his presence and was expertly keeping up the distance between them? Dumbledore wrapped the thick robes around him tighter and continued his journey amidst the nail biting cold.

He wondered where was. Was it Siberia? Was it the Arctic? Or was it a place hidden by magic, only revealed because of the tracking charm? How did Voldemort manage to find the free dragons?

The last location he was certain of was the Alps but that had changed a few hours ago when he entered this magical blizzard. And ever since he had entered this zone he was unable to apparate and the landscape was flat and white. The reason he knew he had left the Alps was the peaks that were supposed to be all around him had suddenly disappeared. No, he wasn't in any mountain range he knew of.

Dumbledore was sure that the dragon was now aware of his presence and kept his wand at the ready. Now that he was aware of its powers, he would not be taken down like he was during the London attacks.

A few more torturous hours later he was proven right.

A ferocious roar drowned the noise of the blizzard and four massive dragons crashed into the ground around him.

Scaled bodies, curved horns, and disturbingly sharp teeth; four pair of reptilian eyes stared at him menacing and Dumbledore was slightly intimidated; Just a bit.

"State your purpose or be eliminated," the dragon in front of him roared. Dumbledore held his ground despite the incredible force that had rammed into his body when the dragon spoke.

"I wish to speak with the dwarves," Dumbledore said calmly.

The dragons huge eyes widened and immediately the other three took to the air. Dumbledore's curiosity at their actions quickly disappeared when the leader of the pack opened his mouth, ready to blast the wizard to oblivion.

Strings of red light crackled around its body and Dumbledore summoned his magic, ready to counter anything the dragons threw at him.

The negotiations were over before they had even begun.

"Would it be too much to ask for a peaceful discussion?" Dumbledore mocked.

The destructive beam of blood red condensed magic that burst out towards him was answer enough.

"Guess not!" Dumbledore shouted and with a roar of his own he deflected the dangerous magic towards the dragons in the air.

The magic did not dissipate like Dumbledore expected and the dragon stood on its haunches and roared again. Dumbledore was shocked to see the beam mold itself into a ball and like a meteor it hurled towards him once more.

"This is not going to be as easy as I thought," Dumbledore joked.

Unfortunately for him, he was the only one who thought that was funny.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts**

"They left," Sirius sighed.

"Now time to worry about them," Sarah said. "We more things to worry about now."

"That's right," Casey said gruffly. "The new city of New York is growing at an alarming rate. Our Navy is reporting a big boost in the magical population there and they have confirmed the onset of a nuclear winter."

"Even over the city?"

"No, apparently the sky above is city has been cleared but the rest the country is darkening as we speak."

"So what can we do about it?"

"Infiltrate the city and find out how they're doing it," Casey said.

"Maybe we should just let them continue what they're doing and keep expanding their city," Diggle joked.

"That is not funny," Moody growled. "A nuclear winter means our ozone will be ravaged until there is nothing left. While so far those with magic haven't been affected by radiation, I doubt anything will be spared if the ozone is gone."

"Europe too, is seeing the beginnings of a nuclear winter," Casey added ignoring the now ashamed Diggle.

"What about Paris?" Sarah asked.

"Voldemort's monster army protects it and everything to its east. New York is still considerably unguarded which is why it is an easier target," Croaker said. "We sent Potter to Ireland because there has been no indication of the construction of a new city which means there is something else going on over there and Warlow's intelligence proves it."

"What about the south?" Casey asked Patil.

"We've already disarmed three dirty bombs. The situation is becoming more and more perilous and it won't be long before we miss one. What's worse, a part of Voldemort's army comprising of werewolves and inferi are sweeping across Afghanistan and are almost at the border of Pakistan. An army of vampires and mountain trolls are entering China through Mongolia and Goblins are swarming all over Africa and the Arab nations."

"All the nations have combined their armies and have dispatched units to both sides to cull the monsters but their strength and resilience is far superior to our own," Patil added wearily.

"Croaker?" Snape called out.

"We have a batch of a hundred weapons ready and we're ready to portkey them to your armies," he said.

"How is the construction of the safe haven in Australia coming along?" Casey asked Kingsley.

"Flitwick and his team have been working hard on establishing the multi fidelius," he said in his deep strong voice. "It's a bit more difficult than they thought because of the magical discharges each one produces."

Casey turned to Croaker for a better explanation.

"It's not possible for the fidelius charm, which hides a location permanently, to cover vast areas like the one we've planned. Therefore we are trying to apply the charm in smaller areas one by one to ultimately cover the entire area. The problem is that the magic is very powerful and when such powerful wards are in close proximity to another one similar to it, it breaks down both wards."

"Well I'll leave it in your hands then," Casey grunted. "On the other hand, have you decided who you want in your team Moody?"

"Sirius and Vance," Moody growled.

"Walker shall join you too," Casey said. "She is highly specialized in stealth."

Moody just grunted.

"Kingsley, ask the professors to hurry up and start transporting the survivors to the desert. Find something to keep them busy when they get there."

"Who is on the ground at the borders?" Casey asked.

"Tonks and Remus, both have their teams assisting the army heading to the border in Afghanistan and the Chinese magical authority have mobilized their own squads to counter the vamps and the trolls," Patil said. "So far, they have managed to counter the muggle air strikes."

"What about the goblins?" Sirius asked.

"Too many and stronger than your average goblin," Croaker sighed. "General Smith has near about a dozen warships near the coasts but the goblins magic has been very effective in stopping their bombardment. They have a unit on the ground along with Warlow's team but they have been ordered not to advance and only to defend the muggles who have not yet been affected."

"Alright," Casey said standing up, looking his intimidating best. "Croaker, get your geeks to work harder. Kingsley, get your professors to charm faster and Moody, get that recipe for countering the nuclear winter!" he barked.

"Dismissed!"

The burly general sat down with a sigh, after the office was empty, staring at the papers in front of him. They needed more men, he thought glumly. Fifteen teams comprising of three men or women off on assassination missions. He was sure not all of them would succeed and some might not even come back.

Fifty capable wizards fighting in the South, four valuable assets off to the remains of the US and the remaining thousand wizards and witches were mostly domesticated or children. The non-magicals were pretty much useless around Hogwarts which is why he wanted them to go to Australia as soon as possible and build a city to live in.

He decided to call on Captain Morgan and get him to select men and women capable of handling the new weapons and dispatch them to the war zones. McGonagall could start selecting the wizards she felt were now capable of fighting and send them to fight too. The decision might make him hated among the families but they needed more men!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Dublin**

A multicoloured portal opened up a few feet above the Dublin port and two tangled up teens were spit out of it.

"Oww," Lillian groaned, her world spinning out of control. That was the worst portkey ride she had ever experienced. It was worse than the one to Beauxbaton.

"Freckles, not that I mind but do you mind getting off?"

Lillian heard Harry and blinked rapidly trying to stop the spinning. Her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness and her lips cracked into a wide grin when she realized that they were in the same position that they had been in on their first portkey ride together.

And this time around she liked it.

"Oh I don't know," she teased. "I kinda like it this way. You pinned under me, completely helpless."

Harry raised an eyebrow and before Lillian knew what had happened Harry had locked his leg around hers, wrapped an arm around her waist and reversed their positions.

"I find this way much better," he said huskily.

Lillian's breath quickened in anticipation but the call of a sea-gull startled them and reminded them where exactly they were and what they were supposed to be doing!

They quickly scrambled to their feet and the intimate energy that was building up between them died down almost instantaneously.

They were in an abandoned port.

Boats and ships tied to the jetty rocked on the water gently exuding a calm that wasn't really there. Massive shipping containers were lying around haphazardly with their contents spread all over the place. Empty buildings stood some distance away with their windows broken and furniture lying in bits around it.

In another time, the silence might have been pleasant but this silence sang a different tune. A tune that described the horrors that had befallen this city by the will of Lord Voldemort. The two elementals could hear the sound of death screaming in the silence.

"Let's explore the city," Harry said quietly.

Lillian nodded, her face grim. They removed their brooms from their respective bags and kicked off, flying a few feet off the ground.

The first sign that the city had, in fact, been ravaged by werewolves and vampires was the sight of the bodies at the entrance to the port.

"Sucked dry," Harry informed Lillian.

"How can you tell?" Lillian asked looking disgusted.

"Those puncture wounds all over should be clue enough," Harry said dryly. "You can imagine yourself just how many young vampires, driven by their thirst, held these men down and drank their blood until there was nothing left."

Lillian just grimaced.

The city was beautiful, she realized as they continued their flight in silence. There was colour and character to every structure they came across and the architecture was very pleasing to the eye. However they also came across innumerable dead bodies of all shapes and sizes and in various stages of decomposition which made the city revolting to look at. Some of the bodies that were mangled beyond recognition but they were in better condition than the other corpses.

"We should set up camp in one the buildings. The sun is setting and we shouldn't travel at night," Harry said as they travelled deeper and deeper into the city. "Those bodies are a clear sign that there could be survivors and there is still something hunting them."

"Werewolves?"

"Werewolves tend to turn their targets instead of killing them. The victims die because their body cannot handle the virus. These bodies on the other hand," Harry said pointing down, "Have been literally torn apart. It's most likely some kind of an animal which has been let loose in the city. I'm putting my money on it being a magical creature."

"I feel like I'm in a horror movie," Lillian muttered and she kept her eyes focused on looking for any movement that was suspicious. "Do we have any clue as to where this Nicolai might be holed up?"

"North west of Dublin is the only clue we got."

"Well that sucks," Lillian deadpanned. "Anyway the sun is almost gone. Let's hope we're lucky enough to find a non rotting apartment somewhere."

Harry grinned wryly and together they landed and hopped of their brooms. Now that the wind was no longer blowing in their faces, they felt incredibly alone in the empty city.

"Urg, something stinks!" Lillian said scrunching her nose.

"Dead bodies Freckles. The ones you saw in the nuclear plant were just killed so they hadn't putrefied. These however…," They turned around the corner of the street and saw dozens of rotting corpses. Crows were pecking at the maggots half the size of his little finger and there were dogs and cats eagerly tearing into the flesh of the corpses. "These are dead bodies barely a few days old," he said looking absolutely unaffected by the sight.

Lillian on the other hand had gone green and clapped her hands to her mouth and nose. "Let's get the hell away from this street!" she groaned, desperately holding back the nausea.

Harry just laughed and took her hand, guiding her around the bodies. "You'll get used to it," he said, feeling a tad guilty when he saw her eyes tearing up, not because of sadness or revulsion, but because of the smell and the gases the corpses were releasing.

She didn't dare breath for the seconds that it took to navigate around the bodies and make it to the other side. "How can you stand that!" she gasped, once they had gone a little further up the street and away from the pile.

Harry shrugged. "Before we shifted from Grimmauld place to Beauxbaton I learnt how to endure that smell and sight. London was worse than this because not even the infrastructure was spared in the death eaters assault. You should be glad we're able to walk on the streets here."

Lillian felt a wave of regret fill her heart at the mention of London. But there was no time to worry about the past because Harry had suddenly gone very stiff.

Lillian didn't question what was wrong and swiftly slid her wand from her arm holster into her awaiting hand.

Harry thought he had heard something move inside the building beside them and immediately froze; expanding his magic to sense for anything living inside the building.

This time his magic felt the moment and he summoned his wand, ready for battle. Beside him Lillian tensed, waiting for some sort of monster to attack them at any moment.

"YAAAAAaaaaaaa!"

A small figure burst out the building realizing it had been discovered and sprinted towards them screaming out loud.

Harry and Lillian just blinked in shock.

A kid, no older than eight was running towards them with a knife raised above his head, ready to kill.

Lillian reacted before Harry could curse the kid. She moved smoothly, grabbed the back of the child's shirt and knocked the knife out of his hand. She lifted him by his collar and stared into his screaming face incredulously.

"LET ME GO YA FREAKS!" the boy screamed. "I'LL KILL YOU! LET ME GO! AAAHHHH!"

Harry flicked his wand silencing the boy and looked at Lillian, bewildered. "Is there something wrong with this picture?"

Lillian smacked the boy on his head making him stop squirming. The disappearance of his voice had made him swing around more violently in Lillian's grasp. Lillian raised him to her eye level and very menacingly she said to him, "Make one wrong move and I'll eat you for dinner."

The boy just stared at her, now horrified.


	54. Part 2 - Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Monsters and Dragons**

Terror filled the boy's eyes upon hearing Lillian's words. All his bravery seemed to have left him in an instant.

Seeing the changes in the boy's demeanour Lillian quickly put him down feeling alarmed.

"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly as the boy drew his knees to his chest and began to mutter under his breath.

He was having a full blown panic attack.

Harry sensed two others coming out of the building and sure enough two men with shotguns levelled at them came running out.

"Step away from the boy now!" they shouted. One American and one Irish, Harry thought, judging by their accents.

Harry wasn't going to let the muggles dictate terms here. The only indication he gave of wielding magic was the slight tilt of his head and the guns were ripped out the muggles hands. A jerk of his head and the shotguns were flung away from them. "Don't do anything stupid," Harry commanded ignoring the stunned and fearful expression that manifested on their faces.

"Pl-please," one of them started but Harry cut him off. "Come here and take the kid," he said. "We're not here to hurt you; we're here to help you."

Very nervously one of the men inched forward and the other followed closely behind. "It's alright Michael," he whispered into the boy's ear as he picked him up. "It's going to be fine," he said to the shaking boy. He passed him on to his companion and asked him to take the boy back.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked warily in a thick Irish accent.

"The sun is going down Rick," the American said. His accent reminded Harry of the cowboy cartoons Dudley used to watch when he was five.

"All of you stay put," Harry said.

"Listen," snapped the American. "I don't know who you kids are but you're not natural and I don't take orders from freaks! Especially since it was freaks and monsters that ravaged this city!"

"Obliviate."

Harry cast the spell on the two men leaving the boy. Harry contemplated memory charming the boy but decided against it. Memory charms were dangerous to the developing brain of a child.

"What are you doing?!" Lillian hissed in shock. Harry ignored her and quickly summoned his invisibility cloak from his bag and draped it over them. Harry pressed his finger to her lip signalling her to keep quiet. In those few seconds of action, Harry had erased their existence from the minds of those men.

"Michael, Michael!" Rick called worriedly but the boy remained unresponsive. "Let's get him to Shannon," he said and the two quickly retreated into the building.

Harry and Lillian followed them after casting a non verbal silencing spell on their boots. They trailed the muggles through the building and out of a back door into the parallel street. The daylight was rapidly diminishing and the muggles movements became more hurried and panicked.

Something strange was going on here.

They came to a stop inside a decrepit building and looked around, searching for signs of trouble. A moment later, Rick bent down and rolled aside the carpet covering the floor revealing a trapdoor. He knocked trice at different intervals and waited.

The sound of a latch being pulled back echoed from under it and then it swung open revealed a mop of blond hair. "Did you find him?"

"We wouldn't be here if we didn't," the American said irritably.

"He must have gotten out when Theo went looking for supplies," Rick added.

The man in the hole nodded and passed a sack to the men above and then took the boy into his arms before passing him down. Harry watched, bemused, as the spread the contents of the sack, which turned out to be salt, all around the trapdoor. Then they carefully got inside and rearranged the carpet above before slamming the hatch shut.

"I think we should take shelter now Harry," Lillian whispered. The behaviour of the muggles was clue enough as to what was happening to the survivors in the city.

Harry nodded and led them into the opposite building. They searched for a relatively clean room facing the street and set up their tent in there. They could have just stayed in the room but their tent provided them with wards that made them completely invisible. The wards main flaw was that if someone knew the approximate location of the tent, then the wards were liable to fail.

It was only after the wards were at full power did the two speak again.

"Please explain why you did what you did Harry," Lillian burst out immediately. She had been holding that outburst in ever since Harry had put his finger on her lips.

"There's obviously something going on here," he said calmly.

"Duh," Lillian mocked.

"We cannot help the muggles unless we know what's going on," Harry said raising his voice. "If we went with them holding a white flag there's a chance we could be found out."

"How?! We can protect them for whatever is there out there!"

"Which will reveal our presence to our enemy! You know we're hunting a madman with a penchant for mass murder don't you?"

"So if they're attacked we don't help?" she demanded.

"Yes."

Lillian quietened but her eyes told him how much she didn't like that answer.

"They are not important to our mission," Harry said quietly. "Had we gone with them, we would have learned more about their problems and they would have asked for our help. Do you think we could have refused in the face of that kind of misery?"

Lillian turned away from him.

Darkness had finally come upon them and there was not a sound in the air. Apart from the light inside their tent which was charmed not to exit their wards, the only objects emitting light in the dark were the twinkling stars and the rising moon.

"It is better for them to not know about our presence. Clearly something is attacking them at night. It could be anything and it is imperative that we remain hidden to allies and enemies until our mission is complete." Harry said again.

"We could have explained our mission to them and asked for their cooperation," Lillian said feebly and summoned a chair from the tent. She knew Harry was right but his actions felt unnecessary.

Harry summoned another chair and sat beside his girlfriend. "We could have," he agreed. "But there was no time. That kid looked like he has some medical problem and we would have wasted a lot of time sorting their problems."

Lillian sighed, as she stared out the window.

Harry took her hand into his and squeezed softly. "We can't interfere if they are attacked," he repeated grimly. "If our target gets wind of something magical in this area then our cover will be blown."

"So we let them die even if we are capable of saving them," Lillian said hollowly. "I understand the reasoning but I still don't like it."

"Let's wait and see what we're up against first," Harry said.

"I vote for monster on the hunt," Lillian muttered.

"Well I agree," Harry said tiredly.

They fell silent, still holding each other's hands.

They sat like that for a good ten minutes before Harry stood up and went inside the tent. The tent looked like a miniature circus tent but on the inside it was quite spacious. A single thick wooden column supported it from the centre. Opposite the entrance to the tent was a tiny kitchen and around the central column was a round table which served as a dining table. Adjacent to the entrance were two rooms equipped with a bathroom of their own. There were a couple of chairs around the table and a lot of cushions strewn around on the floor making the place look cosier. A single ball of orange light hung at the top illuminating the whole tent.

The rooms were identical. A single bed stood in the centre and a bathroom attached to it complete with a sink, shower and toilet. The water was produced as a result of some clever charms that were infused into the structures that required the use of water.

Five to six people could easily live in the tent if they wanted to. The walls were not really walls but the cloth the tent was made of. The cloth was tougher than it looked.

On the outside a pre-prepared ward stone was placed at the top of the tent and four others at the corners of the room which powered the wards that were protecting Harry and Lillian.

"What are you doing?" Lillian called out softly.

"Mapping our current location," Harry replied. He removed the magical map that Croaker had given them and spread it out on the floor. "Get in here."

His breath caught in his throat when she entered. He was sitting on the floor and when he looked up he saw a beautiful woman staring down at him, a tiny frown creasing her forehead and a questioning look set in her blue eyes. Suddenly he felt like he was not looking at a girl but at a woman and he was extremely glad that she was with him.

"What?" she laughed. To her, it seemed like Harry had lost the ability to speak for a moment. His mouth was slightly open and he was staring at her with what seemed to be wonder in his eyes.

"Nothing," he said quickly and felt a little embarrassed. "Anyway come over here. Now according to Warlow, Nicolai is holed up somewhere to the north west of here. If you want a secret base these two locations seem to pop out," he said pointing his finger at a spot on the map.

"The bogs," Lillian murmured.

"The bogs," Harry agreed. "Nicolai is a potions master and I'm sure he'd want to be around a place where the ingredients are easily accessible."

"You'd find ingredients in a bog?" Lillian asked frowning.

"Look here. This place, Drumard, is surrounded by bogs and forests. We should head there and search the area for clues if this city turns out to be a bust."

"So we have a flight plan then," Lillian said as she looked over the map, looking for other viable locations that a potions master could hide in.

"A vague one so far," Harry said. "If he's hiding under a fidelius then we have no chance of finding him."

"I think these people will be too arrogant to hide under too many wards when they think they've all but won this war," Lillian said thoughtfully. "But if we happen to see what's attacking these people, then we can subtly put a tracking charm on it and follow it back to where it came from."

"Good idea," Harry said. "But tracking charms are easily detectable and that too could lead to our discovery."

"At minimum power they won't be," Lillian replied.

"They don't last for long either," Harry said.

"But it will give us a general direction won't it," she said. "Plus if they are focused on this city then they must be coming from somewhere close. The fact that they do not come out during the day tells us they have some problem with daylight."

"Or they just like the cover of dark," Harry said. "So if we happen to spot these creatures, an extremely low powered tracking charm and we do not interfere if the muggles are attacked."

Lillian hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. "How do we plant the charm?" she asked. "We can't do it from here. It's not like those responsible for the attacks are going to pass by this street."

"That will be your job," Harry said. "If they do come, we'll track them with the omnioculars and when presented with opportunity, you take the cloak, teleport to their location and place the charm on its body."

"Err…"

"You have to be quick about it," Harry warned. "We can't risk you getting discovered. That's the whole point of us staying hidden."

"They could spot me you know," she said nervously. "I mean, my fire teleportation is not exactly subtle."

"That's why I'm giving you the cloak and you can teleport to a spot where you'll be sufficiently hidden," Harry said rolling his eyes. "You don't have to be scared you know."

"I'm not scared!" Lillian retorted, the fire in her belly roaring.

Harry smirked. "Then get that look of doubt off your face it's not attractive at all."

Lillian grumbled under her breath but the confidence that Harry was used to seeing in her was back. Harry smirked and lightly smacked her head.

Her hands swatted at the air irritably and Harry quickly jumped out of her way laughing. "Come on," he said, still laughing. "You get that tinned food and I'll get the omnioculars. It's going to be a long night so best be prepared for it."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Location unknown**

Dumbledore, for the first time since he fought Grindelwald, felt truly alive and free. His bones which creaked when he walked were now pulsing with magic reminding him what youth felt like. A grin, which Dumbledore would never allow to come over him in battle was stretched from ear to ear as he skilfully used the dragons magical blasts to manoeuvre and rain down powerful, destructive magic he could not do elsewhere.

Oh, how liberating it felt to truly let loose.

The dragons were thrown out of their rhythm when Dumbledore slingshot their magical blasts back at them one at a time and they decided to change strategy and took positions around Dumbledore, who was in mid air having just diverted the dragons roar into another dragon. The dragon roared in fury as part of its wing was incinerated and it spiralled to the snow clad ground.

The three dragons flapped their powerful wings together creating a turbulent whirlpool of air which swirled around Dumbledore narrowing at rapid speeds. Albus knew there was magic in that wind to tear his body to shreds, but without skipping a beat he spun on his feet with his wand sticking out and spewed fire at the oncoming wind.

The dragons knew that was a suicidal move as the wind fed the flames with more power and Dumbledore was lost within the power of fire and wind.

Fire of that magnitude, however, gives a phoenix unimaginable strength and the combined force of Dumbledore and Fawkes who had arrived just in time to soak in the power exploded with such force that the dragons felt the fire bite into their impenetrable hide like shards of heated glass grievously wounding them.

The spell keeping Dumbledore afloat died out in the backlash of Fawkes's explosion and Dumbledore gently lowered himself to the ground.

One wizard versus four dragons. It should have been an easy match for the dragons but with Fawkes joining the battle they were evenly matched. One dragon could no longer take flight and the others had severe wounds on their bodies.

Dumbledore on the other hand looked unharmed but that was only because of the magic he had armoured himself with. He knew once that power ran out, he was going to feel the damage he was supposed to feel.

"Recharge and come back Fawkes," Dumbledore said softly. "We're going to need everything for this last round."

He three dragons, once again took position around him but they were looking at him with what he could interpret as calculating.

"You have a noble creature of the old as an ally," the leader rumbled.

"Does that please you?"

"We can sense the magic that binds it to you," it said. "Creatures like that cannot be bonded."

Dumbledore heard the accusation. "It was his will, not mine," Dumbledore said quietly. "Are you ready to talk like civilized beings?"

The dragon roared and it felt like the creature was laughing.

"Name yourself wizard."

"Albus Dumbledore." Dumbledore felt like telling them his full name but decided against using humour in this battle. It would most certainly be lost on the dragons.

"With bodies such as ours, don't you think hiding for millennia would be impossible?"

"I imagine this barrier you have is an incredible shield," Dumbledore said cautiously. Something was wrong, he could feel it. There was a certain pressure in the air and it reeked of malevolence.

"No Albus Dumbledore. We are only big to intimidate puny creatures. _This_ is our true form."

Dumbledore's eyes widened as the dragon's image shimmered and began to change. A fine red mist hovered around their bodies as they became smaller and smaller until they were standing on their hind legs, towering over him at ten feet tall.

The leader was the smallest at eight feet and they looked more fearsome than ever. Razor sharp scales covered their bodies and they had a reptilian head with thick powerful legs. The terrifying part was the cracks in their bodies that were glowing brightly; like a barely contained fire.

If the dragon breath had been powerful when they were huge, Dumbledore didn't want to think about the power they could unleash when their bodies and magic had been compressed to such incredible levels. He prayed his plan would work or else he might as well count himself among them dead.

"Good," Dumbledore said with false bravado. "If you're under the impression that your little stature is supposed to instil fear in me then why don't you try what you're thinking of trying." He let a smirk grow on his face. Yes, there was nothing to fear. His rune structure was solid. The trap was solid. There was nothing to fear.

There was nothing to fear.

When the seven foot dragon opened its jaws revealing an endless pit of power; Dumbledore prayed there was nothing to fear.

A scream tore out of the depths of his lungs when the pit of power exploded outwards and his magic drained out like air being sucked into a vacuum. The activation of the wards of Hogwarts was a distant memory of his magic being gently caressed. This was pure agony in relation.

And then it stopped. For a moment he felt blissfully numb but then the pain from his magical core began to radiate through his body. He had overused his magic.

The cold of the ice soaked into his skin and he realized that he had literally melted into the ground. His body was sizzling against the ice and he felt so fragile that he knew another blast from the dragon would result in his body exploding.

Trembling, he pushed himself up and through hazy eyes looked at the damage his runic trap had done.

The dragon was in bad shape. Its wings had been incinerated and there was black ooze dripping all over its body. It was badly hurt but it was still standing and furious. The others did not attempt anything, waiting for instructions from their leader.

Dumbledore grinned and spat a mouthful of blood.

"Impressive runes," the dragon hissed. It's deep and rumbling voice now sounded weaker. "For a wizard to contain my magic is something that must be commended."

"Heh. Try that again and you'll be erased."

"I would tear these wards to shreds and you'd be erased Albus Dumbledore," the dragon said in a matter of fact tone. But the fact that it had not attacked yet told Dumbledore that the Dragon was not that confident after all. He could see the dragon's legs tremble because of the damage it had sustained but he knew it was right. He was the one who would definitely die if any one of the dragons decided to attack.

"The world is at war," he said softly. "An ancient creature will awaken and lay our planet to waste if we lose but with the strength of your kind we can win."

"We are aware young wizard. We await the awakening of the elder one and only then shall we and the rest take a stand."

Dumbledore understood at once.

Harry.

"I know who you speak of and he is my ward. But he is young and needs time to grow. If you do not act now, there will be nothing left to save."

The dragon roared with laughter and the other three joined him. "The world is much bigger than you realize wizard! The history is long and the power is great!"

"The loss of the human race is akin to losing a single goblin. You know nothing Albus Dumbledore."

"I know about how the Perevell's battled evil. I know about the wand, the cloak and the ring. I know the wand has chosen a successor and I know that Tom Riddle is aware of the link between your world and ours. Sooner or later you will realize that humans are much more capable than you give them credit for. If you do not believe me then go ahead and give me your best shot."

 _"I will not fall."_

The following seconds of silence felt like an eternity to Dumbledore. The dragons glanced at each other and Dumbledore wondered if they were communicating.

"You win wizard. You shall speak before the gates of Haldor."

Dumbledore looked for the lie but found none. "You will not regret this," he said, relieved and with the last reserves of his magic, he dropped the wards. Using that little bit of magic proved too much for him and he finally succumbed to the darkness.

The two still whole dragons flared their wings intimidatingly but the leader raised his clawed hands and ordered them to stand down. "His fate will be decided at Haldor. Get Drevius and I shall take the human."

The humanoid dragon rested its clawed hand on an unconscious Albus's shoulder and with a gentle push of its feet; it soared into the sky and was sucked into a tiny black portal.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was two hours past midnight and Harry and Lillian were bored out their skulls. The anticipation for waiting something horrible to happen was long gone. Now it was just dull.

"I see something black," Lillian said. The first few hours, they had stayed alert. Then they started talking and now they were yawning and playing games.

"The sky," Harry sighed.

"Nope."

"My hair."

"Yup."

"Great."

"Yay," Lillian sighed. "Your turn."

"Tell about your life."

"Beg pardon?" Lillian was suddenly wide awake. That certainly came out of nowhere.

"Where you grew up. Your friends. Stuff you like to do."

"Oh. Yeah….. What?"

"It's a simple question," Harry said, amused by her reaction.

"I know, I mean, it just caught me off guard," she said laughing nervously.

"Why are you so fidgety all of a sudden?" Harry asked frowning. He suddenly hoped that she wouldn't ask him the same. Talking about his life would ensure they stayed up till dawn!

"Well," she said and then took a deep breath. "Where do I start?"

"Where did you grow up?"

"Born and raised in Peckham," she said, thinking about it. "I moved to Bromley when I was seven."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "My uncle and aunt never had nice things to say about Peckham," he said.

"Bromley was a little better," she said laughing. "It was not that bad actually; Peckham I mean. I was pretty young and I hardly remember much about it. But I do remember having great fun with my friends there."

"That's nice," Harry said. "Tell me more about your friends."

Lillian grinned. "They were a bunch of crazy fools. There was Sally and Anne; they were twins. Then there was Brook, David and Rutford. These guys were my closest friends and their parents were close with my dad too. They moved with us to Bromley after Peckham."

Harry nodded.

"Our favourite time pass was bursting firecrackers outside people's homes when they were getting busy, if you know what I mean," she said winking.

Harry laughed. "Are you serious? That's just mean."

"Ooh, we got into trouble for it loads of times but David and Rutford were fighters and never backed down even if they knew they were wrong. They used to get beat up all the time." She quietened as she recalled the good times with her friends. They were probably dead now, she thought glumly.

"Sorry if I reminded you of them," Harry said softly.

"It's alright," she said brightening up. "We have more important things to worry about." Harry could see the lie shining bright.

"I never had any friends growing up," he said. "My uncle and aunt hated me and I used to live in a cupboard before I forced them to let me have Dudley's second room."

Lillian's eyes widened.

"I should thank them for what they did or else I would have never become as powerful as I am now. It was because of them that I was determined to gain control over magic and excel at using it."

"Harry…"

"I know," he said abruptly. "It's depressing but it was worth it."

Lillian dragged her chair closer to him and placed her hand on his cheek. She gently turned his face towards her and looked into his eyes. "You would have been amazing regardless," she said softly and placed her lips on his.

He savoured the feel, the taste and the softness of her lips before running his fingers through her hair and pulling her closer to return the kiss passionately. Lillian gasped when she felt her body rise up on its own and was placed on Harry's lap.

Harry just grinned.

"Love the way you use your powers," she breathed and attacked his mouth with all the passion she could muster. Harry let his hand slip down her back and slowly eased into her shirt.

They broke apart for a second. Lillian's eyes were alight and she was breathing heavily. She just gave a tiny nod and tightened her grip on his hair revelling in the feel of his hands travelling up her spine. She waited in anticipation for Harry's hands to find the target of desire but strangely and annoyingly he had stopped.

"What are you waiting for?" she groaned and planted a kiss on his ear. Harry shivered and it wasn't from the cold. "I heard something apart from us," he whispered.

He waited, not moving, and Lillian too narrowed her eyes when she heard an odd sound in the wind.

"Maybe you should remove your hand," she said reluctantly and she gasped when his hand brushed the side of her breast. Her body was begging her to continue but the moment they had been waiting for had finally come.

They forced their hormones to settle down and Harry quickly brought their omnioculars. "Do you see anything?" he asked.

Lillian turned a dial on the omnioculars which allowed them to see clearly at night and strained her eyes in the direction the sound had come from. "Nothing," she replied. "No, wait! There's something moving near that building."

"Which one?"

"The one with the green top," she whispered.

Harry adjusted his omnioculars and instead of seeing something horrific. There were just normal humans on the street. Whether they were magic or muggle was yet to be seen.

"They look scared," Lillian muttered. "What's going on?"

The few dozen men and women gathered close to each other and a minute later a portkey vortex opened up behind the humans and vampires stepped out with huge rattling cages beside them. It was easy to identify the vampires with their pasty white skin that clung to their bodies like a mask covering the ugly personalities. What was more interesting was the closed cages that spelt danger.

Harry and Lillian watched, riveted to their lenses. Words were exchanged and the people now looked terrified. They started to run and the red eyed vampires just grinned. A clearer picture of what was happening in the city began to emerge.

"Harry, this is a bloody hunt," Lillian whispered urgently. "We got to help those muggles!"

"No!" Harry said harshly. "We cannot reveal ourselves. I thought I made that clear Lillian! If we do, we lose our only hope of tracking the vampires back to their den."

The minutes kept ticking by and the vampires just waited for the muggles to run further and hide.

"Whatever is in those cages is definitely the cause of all those bodies we saw," Harry whispered. "I think this city is their testing grounds."

Lillian nodded. "Experimental magical creatures? We already have so many dangerous ones and now they're trying to make them more dangerous?!"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Harry murmured, although he agreed with her. Those cages were over seven feet tall and he could see that it was magically reinforced. Whatever was going to come was definitely going to be fearsome.

Just when the anticipation was getting too much to bear the vampires jumped atop the four cages and opened them up before fleeing immediately. The opening, like a true horror movie, fell forward slowly and hit the ground with a dull thud.

A hulking creature emerged. Thick black fur covered its entire body. It had huge gleaming red eyes that were drowning in malice and madness. Its fangs were long and sharp and instead of fingers it had needle like claws. Its back was a little bent as it took another step forward but suddenly it's raised its large head to the sky and howled.

"Oh Merlin," Harry said. He couldn't believe it. This creature was just a myth and an unsuccessful magical experiment. But here and now, it looked like Wambosi was successful in doing the impossible!

"What is that Harry?"

"It's a hybrid," Harry said grimly. "A cocktail of a vampire and a werewolf along with the strength of a giant. At least in theory."

The beasts blurred out of sight and the next thing they knew was a muggle, a kilometre away, had been ripped apart. The quickly adjusted their omnioculars and watched in horrified fascination one of the beasts sank its claws into the muggle's gut and dug its fangs into his neck.

The poor man was dead within seconds. The beast tore the man's neck to shreds when it violently broke free and made a mess of his torso when it dragged its claws out.

Harry glanced at Lillian and he didn't know whether to be glad or sad she hadn't even flinched. He hoped she'd be able to overcome the side effects of being an elemental like he had.

"Those things are faster than vampires," Lillian said quietly, startling Harry.

"I wonder how they control them," he muttered and winced when another muggle's scream reverberated through the dark city.

Lillian didn't respond.

It was hard for them to just sit and wait without even attempting to help the muggles but that was the only way they were going to be undetected. Harry knew these creatures would sense them the instant they left the sanctuary of their wards and he knew that when Lillian attempted to tag them, it was going to be a close call.

"There's one coming this way," she said suddenly. A muggle was running towards their lane.

"Be quick," Harry said, as she got up and put one foot on the window sill. "Don't miss and…."

She paused and turned back.

"And be safe," he said softly. Lillian smiled and turned back. She slid her wand out, draped Harry's invisibility cloak around her and waited for the beast to come.

Harry held his breath as the terrified man stumbled near their building. Seconds later the beast, looking even more disfigured and consumed by rage, tore through the walls on the opposite building like it was paper and with a leap it was atop the screaming human.

"Go!" Harry said urgently and Lillian disappeared, leaving behind a slightly heated atmosphere.

Harry watched with baited breath as Lillian smoothly reappeared above the beast and accurately tagged it with the tracking charm. The beast must have been able to sense magic because the instant the spell left Lillian's wand it swiped its claws at Lillian's position. But the fire elemental was too fast. She had already disappeared and all the beast swiped at was a little heated air.

She had done it!

She reappeared behind him and fell to the floor.

"Oww."

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

Lillian didn't reply but quickly got up to look outside.

"Don't look," Harry advised. He knew the bloody murder happening outside was not going to be clean.

"I want to see what I just let happen," she replied emotionlessly and silently they watched the man's screams turn into a puddle of blood. Harry didn't so much as show a flicker of disgust as pieces of the man flew apart but Lillian had a strange look in her eye. Disgust was the predominate emotion within her but there was something else lurking in the background.

It was bloodlust.

"Now what?" Lillian breathed, closing her eyes. The beast was done with the dissection in less than a minute and it was now on the hunt for the next prey. It hadn't detected the two elementals watching just a few feet away.

"Now we wait and continue observing. When these monsters leave, we'll get a good idea of where to pick up the trail."

"You don't think they'll lead us back to the hideout?"

"Let's hope it's that easy," Harry laughed dryly.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **Location Unknown**

Dumbledore woke up to the feeling of warmth spreading throughout his body. His eyes flickered open and he felt a dull ache in his chest. Memories of the battle and its conclusion gushed back and he immediately sat up, his eyes alert.

His eyes grew exponentially wide at the sight in front of him.

Gold.

Towering piles of gold all around him and within them were dozens snoozing dragons. They were not the gargantuan images he had in mind but were of varying sizes with the smallest being around 6 feet tall. Size might have an intimidation factor, but their eyes were what was truly frightening. Dumbledore could feel those eyes fixed upon him and he knew they were suppressing the instinct to kill this outsider.

"Albus Dumbledore. Welcome to the Gate of Haldor."

Albus spun around, wand in hand; only to see the dragon he had spoken to during the battle. All traces of its wounds had gone and its wings were fully open. Dumbledore wondered for how long had he been unconscious and what had the dragons done to him that he didn't feel the pain he knew he was supposed to be feeling.

"Gate?" Dumbledore asked confused. There was no gate in sight.

The dragon pointed its smoking fingers behind the gold and then Dumbledore saw the most beautiful gates he would ever see in his lifetime. It was a little larger than the entrance of his beloved castle but while the ones at Hogwarts were made of wood, this was made from a strange metal he could not identify and was symmetrically studded with precious stones. Most of the precious stones were diamonds, the size of his head. But there were various other colourful stones embedded around them. The stones seemed to form some sort of runes.

It simply took his breath away.

"We have not entered those gates in millennia as we are the gate keepers, protectors of the realm of the hidden races."

"Have I earned by way through?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.

"You have," the dragon rumbled. "But the news you bring us is what earned you that right. Your little triumph was not enough." Dumbledore realized that his victory had hurt this dragon's ego.

"Maybe you should listen to what people say before you try to kill them," Dumbledore said with humour.

"The joke was lost on the dragon. It placed its hands on the doors and let its magic flow through the metal making it glow brightly in the process. The light kept getting stronger and then, just as the light became blindingly bright, the dragon pushed.

"Oh my," Dumbledore gasped in awe.


	55. Part 2 - Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Nicolai Wanbosi**

As it turned out, the magical trail of the beast disappeared after a few hours but they were able to get a fix on the location after they portkeyed away. The wizards and vampires had some sort of whistle that controlled the beasts and they disappeared just before dawn leaving a slew of dismembered bodies behind. Harry and Lillian had stayed awake after that, carefully watching the blue dot on their magical map until it disappeared. Their earlier hypothesis turned out to be correct. The trail had disappeared near Drumard, the very place the intended to search next.

Three days had passed since and the two elementals had spent all that time combing the entire area in and around Drumard. Harry could sense there was something there but they had been unable to find any sort of magical wards. The likely hood that Wanbosi was hiding under the fidelius was becoming more likely but they continued their search anyway. Lillian was of the firm belief that a man who believed himself to be victorious already would not take such extreme measures to hide himself. They just had to find the ward stone to understand what kind of wards they were supposed to be looking for and then they would find his hideout. Harry was inclined to agree with her but he still had his doubts.

Unlike Dublin, which still had survivors and corpses, Drumard and the country side were devoid of any signs of life. Apart from a few bird sightings, there was no trace of any other species for miles. Long stretches of empty greenery would usually be described as beautiful or breath-taking or scenic but in this case, even the trees were beginning to yellow and die; the sun shone bright but its light could not penetrate the gloom that had settled almost all over the world. Harry and Lillian were cruising through the town on flying brooms once again and they were talking in whispers even though there was no one to hear them. Raising their voices a bit made it echo around the dead town which only amplified the suffocating presence of gloom.

"Clothes," said Lillian.

"I understand," Harry replied. "Witches have surprisingly poor taste in clothing."

Harry and Lillian were discussing what they would miss most about the muggle world and why Voldemort was an idiot for not being more aware of their great achievements; like cheese burgers. Wizards didn't even know what a burger was.

"They just have the same robes with different patterns and colours," Lillian grumbled. "It's so depressing!"

"It doesn't bother me at all, but it is weird that the men are almost always dressed in black, boring robes."

Lillian scoffed. "You were those all the time."

"It matches my personality."

"And now you're in blue jeans and a grey shirt. What does that tell you?"

"I'm evolving," Harry smirked. "So robes are the only thing that bothers you?"

"Underwear," Lillian added disgustedly. "They sell only these granny type underwear and let me tell you, every muggle born girl can't stand to enter a panty shop in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. We feel like burning our eyes out."

Harry laughed. "That's interesting," he said. His glanced at her and smiled mischievously. "So which one are you wearing right now?"

Lillian rolled her eyes. "The racy-est thongs you'll ever lay your eyes upon," she mocked seductively. She couldn't keep the act up and burst out laughing at Harry's face. He was definitely affected by that! "I'm sure you know what panties look like Harry," she said.

"Yea, well," Harry muttered. "It's not exactly a mystery."

"You want to see mine?" she asked, winking at him.

Harry reigned in his hormones and raised his eyebrows in apparent disinterest. "I'm sure they're the same as any other girls. If you fancy a flash then who am I to complain."

"Is that so? Well, I suppose the ice forming on your broom handle indicates nothing I guess."

"What else do you miss," Harry breathed, wanting to change the topic.

"It's your turn," Lillian smirked.

"Hmm, pizzas and movies I'd say. I've seen a few on the telly during the Dursley days and they're a hundred times better than looking at moving photographs. The pizza I had…. Oh!"

"What?"

"I have seen you in your panties," he smirked. "That was the same day I gorged on pizzas and burgers too."

"Those were decent ones and why did you remind me of pizzas," sighed Lillian. "That Riddle is such an arsehole!" she cursed. "Attempting to destroy the world because of his damn superiority complex!"

They finished their round of the town and guided the brooms towards the bogs. Maybe they would chance upon something there, although the last three trips had been a bust. They were talking in relaxed tones and joking about the war but it was the way they had chosen to deal with all the depression. It was Lillian's idea to laugh about it and it had helped keep their spirits high.

"Well he actually wants to rebuild it in his image," Harry corrected.

"Death to fashion is his motto," Lillian grumbled.

"You seem really sore about this whole fashion thing."

"I like opening my wardrobe and finding a multicoloured paradise in there. And now I don't fit into any of my old clothes. There's only so much magic can do."

"You have filled out that's for sure," Harry agreed. "Not fat, just grown," he added quickly. "It's appreciation!" he said wincing at her sharp expression. "I never expected you to have a clothes obsession too."

"It's not an obsession. It's called having good taste."

"How does an overflowing wardrobe qualify as good taste?"

"You're a man, you wouldn't understand. And the fact that you've been wearing the same shirt for the last three days has been bugging the hell out of me."

"It's clean, it doesn't smell and it looks good. What more is there to it? No one is even there to judge and you know how much I care about that!" he said sarcastically.

"Urgh, you're just incapable of understanding!"

"What do you mean incapable. You're just obsessed and unwilling to admit it. They're just clothes Freckles."

"And you are unwilling to admit that you have no idea what you're talking about. You think you're the highest authority on all things! Yeah, you're a bloody genius and all but can't you admit you know nothing about why women like clothes?!"

"Explain it then," Harry demanded.

They had stopped flying and were hovering in the middle of the forest.

"I won't. Not unless you admit that you are wrong."

Harry scoffed.

"Well then, let's continue our search for this manic," Lillian said angrily.

"Whatever," Harry said through clenched teeth.

They continued their journey and four hours later, they were still maintaining a stubborn silence even though both of them had come to realize that their argument was silly but neither of them wanted to say it first. Both were waiting for the other to admit it first.

Their flight took them over the marsh lands over which they to fly through thick mist which sent shivers down their backs which wasn't because of the sudden chill. Their argument was quickly forgotten as soon as they entered this spooky part of the forest.

"Why did we never come across this before?" Lillian whispered, moving herself closer to Harry. Her body had unconsciously increased her body temperature, keeping it at a constant temperature which she enjoyed.

"We decided to expand our search grid remember? This is five miles further out."

"Perfect place for a hideout don't you think?"

"Keep a look out. There could be detection wards here," Harry cautioned.

"Do you feel anything with your magic?"

Harry had his magic spread all around him looking for the faintest signs of foreign magic. "Nothing," he murmured. His face was a mask of concentration.

The sunlight was blocked out in the mist and the sound of birds, insects and wind had vanished from their surroundings. Underneath them was a dark outline of grass in the midst of a vast expanse of boulders and marsh.

Lillian didn't and couldn't cast a spell around her, which would help her detect wards, because of the worry of magic being detected. The magic Harry was using was too ambient to be detected by wards.

Suddenly Harry jerked his broom to a halt, his eyes widening in surprise and then realization.

"Quick, get back!" he hissed urgently. Lillian mentally got into a combative mode and turned her broom sharply and zooming after Harry.

They stopped a couple of minutes later and Harry pulled his bag and began to rummage in it.

"What wrong!" Lillian asked worriedly. "What did you detect?!"

"The grass," Harry said quickly. He finally pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it towards Lillian. "We crossed a point a little ahead, where the grass was brighter and longer around the marsh. That is a clear sign of magic and that means we crossed some sort of ward and it has been expertly hidden."

"What!"

"Put the cloak on!" Harry said.

"And you're not coming under it?!"

"Just put it on, I'll explain!"

He watched her disappear from sight and he cast a powerful disillusionment charm on her wand. "Follow me and listen," he said to the invisible girl. "The fact that I didn't even detect the ward means that the magic required to power it is tremendously low. Almost like my ambient magic. It is also ridiculously easy to disable which means it is a detection ward tied to an object and not a person. This object is basically an alarm and the ward we just crossed has probably collapsed. Someone is going to come to investigate and I'm going to give myself up."

"Are you out of your darn mind?!" Lillian hissed furiously right into his ear.

Harry winced at the, loud to his ear, voice. "You will follow me and stay hidden unless you absolutely have to show yourself. This is our ticket to finding this hideout."

"And what if the people who come want to kill you, not capture you?" Lillian asked sarcastically. This was a terrible plan and she was a little angry he didn't even discuss it. "Obviously they won't succeed but our presence will be exposed and our mission will be blown to hell!"

Harry gaped at her. He really hadn't accounted for that but he was quick to come up with a solution. "They capture muggles and use them as bait for those creatures. It stands to reason that if they think I am a muggle who wandered into a bog, they will capture and not kill me."

With that thought Harry quickly landed on a patch of solid ground and handed his bag and broom to Lillian. Or rather he held them up and waited until the invisible Lillian stretched out her hand from under the cloak and waved her now visible limb at Harry asking him to hand them over. They disappeared into her extendable bag under the cloak and Harry quickly schooled his expression into one of a lost, frightened muggle. It was easy with his growing command over occlumency.

But with the thick mist all around him, he had to be careful to keep his feet on solid ground. He even stopped using his magic to detect other magic and focused on keeping up his act and stumble along the narrow path.

The invisible Lillian was breathing slowly and carefully, her entire body was tense with anticipation and tension. If Harry was right and they had actually crossed a detection ward and that the difference in grass colour and length was more than just a natural phenomenon, then a fight was going to happen no matter what. A battle was going to take place and it was either going to be now or sometime in the next couple of hours. The end of the mission was already in sight and the only question that remained was what kind of an end was it going to be?

She watched Harry stumble through the mist and she hovered silently behind him. Suddenly a thought struck her. Was this cloak enough to hide her from magical detection? A homenum revelio would be enough to ruin her cover. She voiced the thought to Harry quietly.

"The cloak is special," Harry whispered back. "Its magic is too powerful and it essentially wipes you from this existence making you completely undetectable. They won't find you unless you want to be found. Now don't make a sound."

Fifteen minutes later a sound of something cutting through air whizzed towards them and immediately Harry found himself surrounded by five vampires. Lillian flew higher but close enough to keep things visible.

Harry's eyes widened in fear at the sudden appearance of the vampires. "Please, please help me," he whimpered. "I've been lost in the bog for a whole day. Please help me sirs."

Lillian gaped at the acting.

"Look at this Angelo," laughed one of the vampires. "A pitiful human has found his path into our den."

Harry whimpered and backed away. His retreat came to a halt when he bumped into a six and a half feet tall vampire, flashing its gleaming fangs at its prey.

"You have terrible luck boy," hissed the vampire. "When the entire muggle species is hiding from us, you decide to give up your delicious blood on a silver platter!" The vampires roared with laughter.

Harry gazed into the predatory vampires eyes with dread.

"Let's take him back."

"Or we could drain him and eat him," drawled another.

"The master will want to know," the vampire called Angelo said.

The six and a half feet tall vampire clamped his slimy fingers around Harry's neck and lifted him up.

Harry choked on the grip and suddenly the vampires sped away. Lillian was alert and she followed them at high-speed. She was terribly anxious for Harry and never once let her focus go astray. She kept a small distance between them until the mist began to thin out and a large building came into her line of vision. It was a seven floor and very wide building. It was almost like a fifty floor apartment building fallen on its side.

The vampires threw Harry on the ground near the main entrance door and Lillian lowered herself to the ground and slid of the broom as carefully as possible. With her feet on the ground, she pushed the disillusioned broom into her bag. The door was opened by a wizard. Lillian knew it was a wizard because he wasn't painfully pale like the vampires. They dragged Harry inside and Lillian followed, her rubber soled shoes which was always silenced when they left the confines of their tent, didn't make a sound.

The hurried through a large hall with dusty chair haphazardly strewn all over, into a corridor with dilapidated walls, thorough a door which had stairs leading to the basement.

Harry had to suppress his disgust and fury at the sight in the basement. The wide and long room was lined up on both sides with steel cages and their insides were crowded with miserable looking men and women. Their eyes were filled with anguish and their torn clothes hung loosely over their thin and frail bodies.

"Victims of the experiments of Nicolai Wanbosi," Lillian raged in her mind. She was not going to leave this place unless Wanbosi was burned to ash and his remains thrown into an active volcano.

The vampires shoved him into a cage with space enough to let him fit and shut the cage door with a loud clang. "The master will be seeing you soon human," the vampire chuckled.

Harry waited until they disappeared up the stairs. "Stay hidden," Harry whispered. Lillian didn't reply.

"Prayer is pointless in this hell son," a middle-aged man said to Harry.

Startled Harry looked at this man. He wore a shirt that was crumpled and ripped in several places, and pants that were tied with a thin rope to hold them on his thin hips. His bones were visible and scars could seen under his shirt, on his back and torso. His hair was unkempt and long with more grey than black. Harry doubted this man was beyond forty but now he looked like he was sixty.

His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he looked at the dozen or so prisoners in the cage with him. There were children among the men and women too.

"I wasn't praying," Harry said, dropping his scared muggle act.

"W-why aren't you frightened?" a young women asked him. Her eyes were rolling in their sockets rapidly and Harry frowned.

"She's been in the experiment room," the man explained sadly. "God only knows what potions they shoved down her throat this time." He shuddered, remembering the horrifying effects of the potions he too had been forced to drink.

"What do these potions do?"

"They are horrible most of the times," a teenage boy said dully from the back of the cage. "And sometimes they do nothing."

"Horrible?"

A couple of girls burst into tears. The trauma was too fresh and too raw in their minds.

Harry tried not to gag at the horrible smell that permeated the entire basement. Human excretion mixed with vomit, body odour and death. He used magic to dull the smell entering his nose and fell silent. There was not much use in talking to these people. They were too traumatized to give him any vital information. The only one who was relatively sober and sane was the middle-aged man. He was probably one of the newer prisoners.

"Tell me more about the master," Harry asked. He doubted any of them knew his name was Nicolai Wanbosi.

He had to ignore the shudder of fear that ran through everyone around him and tune out to the increasingly loud sobbing.

"He's…" the man trembled. "He's a monster," he whispered and turned away from Harry. He was having a panic attack and Harry stepped away. Staying in this depressing cage was pointless. He had a choice; he could either escape and find Nicolai and kill him or wait for the vampires to bring him to the Wanbosi. Still it wasn't guaranteed that he would be brought to Wanbosi just yet or ever. If his cover as a muggle was believed then he could just as well be tossed to the vampire-werewolf hybrids or experimented upon by Wanbosi's underlings. On the other hand, if he escaped then Wanbosi might get suspicious and escape before they could capture or kill him.

Harry closed his eyes and weighed the favourable outcomes and decisions in his mind. A couple of minutes later he came to a decision and snapped his eyes open. "Start a fire," he whispered through the bars, moving closer to the cage door. He was sure Lillian was still there. "A small one at the entrance of the dungeon and unlock the cages before you do."

"Are you insane?" Lillian hissed.

Harry turned around in alarm, hoping no one heard her. "Keep your voice down! And unlock mine and a few more, that's all. Not all of them. Do it now and then I'll explain."

"You better have a good reason for this or else I'm burning your balls off."

Harry winced at the mental image and waited. Sure enough, a sudden fire broke out at the entrance and as soon as the prisoners took notice, a panic began to fester.

"Fire!" Harry shouted in panic. "There's a fire, we got to escape!" he shouted. The others in the cage immediately got up and rushed at the cage door which was conveniently unlocked and it crashed open as soon as the prisoners pushed it. Several other cages slammed open and the screaming and shouting grew louder as the other prisoners begged for help.

Harry ran towards the fire while the others ran away from it. He was completely invisible to the panic-stricken prisoners and some of them were even running with the hope of escape from this nightmare that they were caught in.

"Over here!" Lillian's voice came from ahead. Her hand was sticking out from under the cloak and he grabbed it and joined her under it.

"Good to see you," Harry said grinning. "Let the fire be and take us upstairs," he said. "Someone's going to be here to put of the fire."

Lillian's fingers curled around his wrist tightly and they disappeared in a flash of fire to the upper level where they appeared a mere second before a couple of vampires and wizards came around the corner of the corridor and dashed down to the basement. They let them pass and quickly went in the direction their enemies came from.

Their feet were easily visible as they ran through the endless corridors of this enormous building. There were no doors in the corridor they were running on and the staircase leading above and below was lying at the end of the corridor. It was the same on the next floor which they went on but this one was longer and at the other end, instead of stairs, there was a door. There had been no sign of any other occupants in their seven minute run in the building so they had to assume that the fire had been dealt with and his absence not detected. They stopped before opening the door and looked at each other, their faces tense and in anticipation of a battle.

"Do you hear anything?" Lillian asked Harry, while pressing her ear against the door.

"Nothing," Harry replied. "Let's go in, quietly."

Lillian turned the door knob slowly and the door clicked open with a sharp but soft click and Lillian carefully pushed it open to half and slipped in with Harry right behind her.

There was no one inside but a larger corridor, almost double in size, with several other doors embedded in the walls on both sides. They were like entrances to important places in the building and suddenly Harry remembered that they were dealing with a mad scientist. They had to be more cautious and not cause any incidents like the fire in the basement. If the vampires that brought him didn't realize he was missing, this could now be considered a successful infiltration of Nicolai Wanbosi's hideout.

"Disillusion and silent charms," Harry whispered, keeping his voice as low as possible.

Under the cloak two arms, wrists and hands moved uniformly to cast the spells on each other. Then they moved closer to each other and walked to the first door on their right. Harry reached first and he turned the knob of the door and pushed it open.

It was a storage room. There were rows of tables and they were stacked with sacks labelled in what seemed to be Russian, along with thousands of metal equipment that looked like something you expect to find in a green aliens flying saucer. But there was no one inside the dimly lit storage room. Harry and Lillian took a quick look inside before going back to the corridor and shutting the door. They moved to the adjacent door and Harry once again opened it and this time they were in a room which housed four vampires and two wizards around a table with several cards in their hands. The room was lit up by tube lights and had dull yellow painted walls. All six heads turned to the door when it opened and waited for someone to come in but no one did.

"Hello?" said the wizard frowning.

"Get your arse inside Stems," shouted one vampire in irritation. "Stopping messing about and tell us what happened in that shit hole already!"

But no one answered and the irritated vampire got up from his place, grumbling under his breath and walked to the door. It looked outside but saw nothing and frowned. "There's no one there."

"Then shut the door and come back," said a wizard. "Must have been the wind or else that doggie nose of yours would definitely smell something."

"Don't dare insult me human!" the vampire hissed and slammed the door in Harry and Lillian's face. There was no way the Wanbosi was one of these creatures and they moved on. The other three rooms were storage and were filled neatly with more odd equipment. One of the storage rooms had racks of organs and other biological items in glass jars that drew a disgusted grunt from both of them. Another staircase was present at the end of the corridor and this time they went all the way, six floors above, to the top floor.

This was a lavishly laid out floor with a ceiling almost thirty feet high and a corridor twenty feet wide covered with blood-red carpet all over. There were suits of armour and portraits of gruesome nature hanging on the walls on both sides. The ceiling had spaces made of glass through which the moon light was shining through, illuminating the otherwise dark corridor. There were a couple of doors opposite each other fifty feet apart and the corridor itself seemingly had no end.

They could not see the other end because of the darkness and they cautiously proceeded while keeping their ears alert for any traces of sound. It was not a leap to assume that Wanbosi was going to be in the room whose entrance screamed royalty and prestige going by the way the few floors they had seen were laid out. This was by far the one which radiated importance and sure enough, five minutes later, instead of staircases at the end, there was a massive oak double door entrance with two gold knockers in the shape of a serpents head.

Heated voices could be heard from the other side and Harry and Lillian exchanged significant looks. This was it, they said to each other silently. The only question was how to get inside.

Wanbosi was a tall man, touching six and half feet, with a thin body structure. He had medium length brown hair that was pushed back with a lustrous gel and his skin was almost as pale and white as a vampire as a result of staying indoors the most of his life. His cheeks were sunken in, highlighting his cheek bones and giving him a gaunt and hollow look which enhanced his cruel sickly pale grey eyes. He was currently arguing with the king of vampires because of the fire that had broken out in his basement and he was convinced it was the result of an external force and not an accident. He made his point clear by baring his teeth which were horrifyingly sharpened into fangs. Every single one of his tooth was shaped into a razor sharp canine. He told his prisoners that it was easier to bite into the flesh of a new-born and he wasn't lying.

Wanbosi was an inhumane beast of monstrous proportions and he deserved to die a painful death.

"My vampires have checked the basement and found nothing out of the ordinary, Nicolai," the vampire king said calmly. "If you're sure that it's impossible for a fire to break out in this building then, we'll send a squad of wizards to check it out. You, however, are going to stay here until the threat against your life is a distant memory."

"How did you find out about that anyway," Nicolai hissed. His voice was high-pitched and nasally.

The vampire king just gave the mad scientist a look that conveyed his annoyance with the man. It was just after that he heard a whoosh and the burst of powerful magic behind him. He barely dodged the spike of ice that sped past him but Nicolai was not so lucky.

'Elemental!' the vampire king thought in shock and amazement. 'How did he get past the wards on the door?' His questions changed to horror when he saw the spike of ice, dripping with blood, embed itself on the opposite wall, after piercing through Wanbosi's heart. Wanbosi just had an expression of surprise written on his face before the ice retracted and from within his torn heart, burst into more shards that burst out of various parts of his body sending a spray of blood all over the room and effectively ending any hopes of his survival.

Wanbosi was dead. Brutally murdered by Harry Potter.

The vampire king turned his red eyes towards the man standing near the door, who seemingly came out of nowhere, and was grinning with a wand held in his right hand and crackling ice extending out of his outstretched left arm.

Their eyes met. Sinister red met chilling green eyes glowing silver and the vampire king felt excitement well up inside him.

"You must be the silver eyed demon," he said softly getting into a battle stance.

Harry replied by raising his wand blindingly fast and let loose an exploding curse that blew apart an entire section of the room.


	56. Part 2 - Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Power Struggle**

Wanbosi was dead. Brutally murdered by Harry Potter.

The vampire king turned his red eyes towards the man standing near the door, who seemingly came out of nowhere, and was grinning with a wand held in his right hand and crackling ice extending out of his outstretched left arm.

Their eyes met. Sinister red met chilling green eyes glowing silver and the vampire king felt excitement well up inside him.

"You must be the silver eyed demon," he said softly.

Harry replied by raising his wand blindingly fast and let loose an exploding curse that blew apart an entire section of the room.

Rubble and dust filled the room after the powerful explosion.

Harry's eyes widened as he sensed the vampire literally disappear from his position. He barely got an ice shield up to protect his back and it was shattered on impact by the vampire's fist. 'Fast!' Harry thought and summoned a whirlpool of ice and water to protect him. He strengthened his occlumency to keep distracting thoughts away and spread his magic to its fullest extent to track the vampire.

Lillian, still hiding under the cloak, had to control her impulse and instinct to join the battle. Watching Harry literally tear Wanbosi open had shocked her but strangely it didn't recall that nauseating feeling she had experienced the first time she saw fresh mutilated bodies. Harry had made her promise that she wouldn't interfere unless his life was in danger. The enemy didn't know about her and he wanted to keep her existence a secret. She was his trump card and was not to be shown until all the cards were thrown.

An invisible force crashed into his swirling shield and Harry grunted as he was pushed back. 'What the hell was that?!' he thought in alarm. 'This was no ordinary vampire!' He bent his knees and blasted out another full powered exploding curse mixed with ice bullets flying in all directions.

Lillian disappeared in a burst of fire under the cloak and reappeared outside the building in time to watch the entire top floor where she was get blown apart. Another explosion followed sending plumes of fiery multicoloured flames into the sky. She didn't need to think to realize that it was the result of one of the hidden labs exploding.

Harry's curse and ice smashed into the vampire with incredible force in mid air and the wind was knocked out of the vampire king as he went flying out of the building. He crashed into the ground, unable to gather himself in time and Harry was upon him in an instant, with an ice hammer formed out his clasped hands.

The vampire barely avoided the attack and the ground trembled and cracked under the force of Harry's power. He blurred away, putting a little distance between him and the ice elemental.

"Your strength is not normal," he said, calmly brushing the dust off his expensive suit. "Did that wand in your hand chose you or did you steal it?" He caught sight of the scar on Harry's forehead and his smile broadened. "Harry Potter."

"It chose me," Harry said. "Who are you? You're not like those weak blood suckers whose heads I've sliced in the past."

"I'm the king of vampire. My name is Count Vlad Tepes, but you can call me Count."

"Ho," Harry said impressed. "You're Dracula. You should be glad that you're undead arse is going to permanently end tonight."

The Count chuckled. He raised his fingers to his lips and let loose a piercing whistling sound. "Voldemort is going to be really displeased with the loss of Wanbosi but who really cares about all that. What's really going to get his knickers in a twist is your head impaled on a spike in front of his castle." Dracula pulled out a metal rod from within his suit and with a little twist it extended into a gleaming metal pike. "Elementals are a menace to this world and I will see to it your head is impaled on this spike before this hour ends."

"Dream on!" Harry shouted and stretched his arm back. A silver whip emerged from its end and it shot towards the Count. The vampire leaped into the sky but the whip followed, moving even faster and was about to strike him when the Count burst into a mist of blood.

The mist shot towards Harry and Harry blocked it with a powerful blue shield. "Expulso!" he shouted, blasting an evisceration curse into the mist but it just passed through harmlessly. A leg emerged near the ground and kicked out, knocking Harry to the ground.

Harry blasted a jet of water from his feet to propel him out of the path of the pike that was about to stab him.

"All guns out," Harry grunted, jumping to his feet. He stretched out his hands and wrapped his magic around the Count.

"What?!" Vlad gasped in shock as his body was suddenly caught in some kind of a web and he was yanked towards the elemental. Harry sliced his hand through the air sending a spinning blade in line with the vampire's neck.

"Shit!" Vlad yelled and used his own magic to break loose and turn into mist just before his head was cut off.

Harry's eyes widened at the use of magic similar to his own. The same magic he used without a wand was being used by this vampire! He didn't let the thought distract him and he flashed towards the mist with water roaring around him and attempted to encase the mist in ice.

Vlad rematerialized and pulled a sword out of nowhere and sliced Harry's ice like it was nothing. The blade continued its path towards Harry's chest and was deflected by a burst of magic from Harry.

They flashed away from each other feeling the thrill of battle course through their veins.

"You're definitely not a normal human wizard," Vlad said, panting slightly. "That power you have is already greater than Voldemort's. I can feel its ferocity snapping at me."

"I could say the same to you," Harry replied. "What the hell is that mist and magic? You're supposed to be a vampire. Not a wizard."

"I am a vampire that is a product of true Evil," Vlad replied. "All others are just by products of my bite. I am a part of Evil just like your wand."

Understanding dawned on Harry. "You're just using Voldemort," he murmured. "He's the vessel through which Evil will return."

"Very good," Vlad mocked.

"You're going to die for sure," Harry said, gritting his teeth. He prepared another ferocious attack but was unsettled by the unmoving vampire.

The reason became apparent to him seconds later as one by one, vampires began to surround him. Their numbers kept on increasing and they blurred past him without trying to attack him.

'The whistle,' Harry thought grimly. Undeterred and unimpressed, he took a step to launch his attack but to his horror, he found he could not move!

"Caught in my trap, you are!" Vlad said in a sing song voice.

Harry looked down and saw a faintly glowing pentagram around him with him in the centre. "When?!"

"My vampires laid it when they arrived," Vlad explained chuckling. "You were too busy concentrating on me to notice."

Harry struggled to move but he couldn't. He tired to blow the trap away with his water and ice but they just shot into the sky no matter how hard he tried. He tried using his magic to summon a rock to break the barrier but his magic, in all its forms, refused to leave that circle he was trapped in.

Vlad readied his spike with a truly evil look in his eyes.

Harry knew he was in trouble. This unexpected trap had completely immobilised him and he was just waiting to be killed. "Wait!" he shouted in alarm. His mind was swimming through possible ways to escape and the one thing he needed was time.

Vlad paused with a curious frown. "Any last words?"

"What's your beef with me? I mean why do you want to kill me so bad? You surely don't care about that jackoff Voldemort."

Vlad chuckled. "You are a part of something truly disgusting."

"More disgusting than you? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your kind. Do you know how the human race was created? The human race is a species that was given life by both Good and Evil. They came into existence as a result of the eternal clashes between Good and Evil. Humans are a mistake that should have never been created. I was given life by Evil alone and there is still more life that he created hidden in this world. The Drakons, the High Elves, the Dwarves, the Neytons and more were given life by Good."

The magnitude of the vampire's words crashed into Harry. Vlad carried out, noticing Harry's expression.

"But elementals?" he said softly and dangerously. "Elemental's were humans that got greedy and attempted to summon power from another dimension of life. They gained power that was harmful to good and evil. A power that neither good nor evil could wield. Good being good, didn't begrudge these humans, it never even considered what they did was wrong. But evil was determined to wipe these humans off the planet. But around that time, that time meaning really, really, really long ago, three human elementals with the army of good were able to tip the balance of power towards good and evil was defeated, but not killed. Elementals are humans that have the power to tip the scales of balance to either good or to evil. But history has proven they eventually side with good."

The meaning behind these words was mind boggling. They couldn't be comprehended in the few seconds that it took to tell this story. His will to survive had never been stronger after grasping the meaning behind the vampire's little history lesson and not to mention the vampire's true strength.

"You are a descendent of this cursed blood through time and now, to end your bloodline, you must die, _abomination_ ," Vlad hissed and pulled his arm back, the tip of his pike gleaming under the moonlight.

Harry's eyes contorted in fury. "Do it!" he screamed. Vlad thought he was screaming because of the impact of the thought of dying but actually it was a signal to the undetectable fire elemental who was conveniently standing a few feet behind the kings of vampires.

A thin whip of fire, almost a momentary crack in the atmosphere, sliced through the air and cut through the Count's neck like it wasn't even there. The whip disappeared just as fast as it appeared and for a few seconds, everything stopped and it looked like nothing had happened. Nothing had changed and the moment was just frozen in time.

Then Vlad's expression of cruel delight turned to confusion. That expression remained fixed on his face when a fiery lance made of fire flew through the air and burned through his back, through his heart and burst out of his chest. The lance continued its path and crashed into the ground next to Harry, erasing the trap holding him in place.

"So this was the famous Dracula. Beaten by a fourteen year old girl," Lillian said in mock disinterest, removing the cloak of invisibility and stuffing it into her backpack. Her eyes were alight with fire and she was calmly walking towards the slain king of vampires. She too had heard the story and understood what it meant. "You alright there, Harry?"

The air was suddenly filled with the anguished screams of the hundred or so vampires summoned by the dead vampire king. The squeal and screech of metal against metal pierced the atmosphere and all of them rushed at the elementals, blinded by rage.

They couldn't even touch the powerful teenagers. Lillian just laughed when their swords passed through her immaterial body of fire. She began to cut through the vampires with blades of fire replacing her arms and she moved like she was chopping carrots.

Harry didn't waste any time too and he decided to try out his new elemental tricks. He swiped his arm through the air, letting bucket sized droplets of water to fly and by clenching his fists, the droplets flattened and sharpened into razor sharp spinning blades. He guided them through the air with his magic and watched in delight as vampire upon vampire lost their heads in the space between seconds. A vampire that managed to avoid the carnage of fire and ice, tried to stab Harry, but to its horror, Harry's torso turned into water, let the sword through and then froze his body, trapping the sword inside him without harming his body. Harry blew his head off with a pulverizing curse.

Lillian was flying through the air, her arms, legs and neck stretched out, baiting the vampires to just come and eat her. She was ripe for sucking the blood out of all her veins that were throbbing with adrenaline. But every vampire that got close to her was consumed by fire in an instant. Her body was inviting but her magic was deadly. Her face was tight with mad delight at the death of each vampire. Every time she killed, a shot of ecstasy flooded her mind and she wanted more. The pleasure of killing was taking over her senses and she began to trap the vampires in balls of fire all around her and laughed when she heard their screams of pain and terror.

Harry was feeling that same ecstasy that was blinding Lillian. He turned his arms into water that separated from his body and with his magic sensing the vampires movements, he guided the water or rather his hands around vampires attacking his shield and turned the water to ice and sliced their heads off. Watching Lillian's delight was unlocking the hold he had over the bliss of killing. It was the bliss his element was feeling at bringing death and it was taking over his senses. But he managed to control himself and grinning slightly he took down the last dozen vampires without even thinking to hard about it.

And suddenly, it was over. Harry and Lillian were standing over a sea of body with bloodlust coursing through their veins, begging for more. They wanted to kill some more. They wanted to see more blood. This was all too easy.

Harry had learnt to control this feeling but this was the first time Lillian was experiencing it and she turned her blazing eyes towards Harry. "Where are the rest?!" she hissed. "Let's find them and kill them all!"

"Calm down, Freckles," Harry said. Watching her wild eyes and blood stained clothes was turning him on and making his control go weak.

Lillian flamed in front of Harry, her breath short and eyes filled with lust. Lust for blood. That bloodlust remoulded into sexual lust in both their eyes after a moment of silence and they pulled each other in for a passionate kiss.

Unconsciously Lillian flamed them to their room in Drumard and their hands began to roam each other's bodies without restraint while lips moved against each others with blind desire.

Lillian pushed her tongue past his lips, invading his mouth with ravenous hunger. She grabbed his arse and pulled him further into her, grinding against his crotch, feeling his cock grow hard.

Harry pulled back and held her shoulders firmly. "Freckles," he panted. His element was craving for blood; for violence. Raw sexual desire was flooding all his senses and he knew he wouldn't be able to control it if this continued. He could see the lust had already taking control of Lillian and her eyes radiated anger at his withdrawal. "Freckles we have to stop."

"Shut. Up. And. Fuck. Me." she said, her voice a low and clear authoritative growl.

Harry lost all semblance of control as soon as she uttered those words. The rings of silver in his eyes glowed triumphantly and he sucked and bit her lips eagerly. Lillian was delighted and with a single purpose in mind she began to undo his pants.

She barely pulled the zip down when harry pushed her away and shoved her towards the wall. She cried out when her back made contact with the wall but there she didn't have time to register the pain as Harry grabbed her shirt and tore it apart.

"God yes!" she cried out clenching and pulling his hair while he lowered his mouth and engulfed her nipples in his mouth, sucking on them. He roughly squeezed her perky breasts and felt his excitement and passion rise when she moaned erotically. All his reservations about letting his element control him were gone. All that remained now was pure unadulterated lust.

Lillian's hot and sweaty palm blindly found its way into his pants and she grasped Harry's cock while his mouth and hands mauled her breasts, making her moan and gasp at the pleasure. The sensation of having a different hand touch Harry's cock sent blots of pleasure shooting up from his balls which made him groan into her breasts. He wanted to reciprocate and quickly rose up to wrap one hand around her neck and pull her in for a violent kiss while the other hand undid her jeans and pushed past the waistband of her panties to the moist place between her legs.

For a brief moment their dilated pupils locked; green and blue gazed into each other. Lillian was letting her fingers run all over his warm hard on and balls and Harry was stroking her between her legs, marvelling at soft hair, the slick flesh, the warmth radiating through the skin and the sticky liquid that was coating his fingers.

Both elementals were feeling incredibly aroused and amazed at the new feeling their ministrations was causing in their bodies and for a minute they were just frozen, breathing heavily, their eyes locked on each other and their fingers exploring. Their pace slowed down for a moment before the lust exploded out of them and one by one each article of clothing was ripped of their bodies until they were naked, grinding against each other, locked in another toe curling kiss. Lillian broke away and started to trail kisses down Harry's neck while pushing him back to the bed. She wanted to be in control. Her element demanded it.

Harry gasped when she pulled at his nipples with her teeth. His hands were sliding down her back and her arousing nibbles made him lean further and dig his hands into her taut and soft buttocks.

She was thrown off balance when harry spun her around and pushed her onto the bed. She landed with a light squeal and his nostrils flared at the erotic sight in front of him. Heavy lidded blue eyes with rings of fire were looking at him hungrily, heaving breasts that were capped with erect nipples and pink areolas, a tight abdomen that was moving and down in anticipation and a hint of black hair between her long, amazing, delicious, crossed legs.

His prize was hidden from him revealing only a hint of wavy black pubic hair that covered her cunt. Harry let out a growl and pounced on her, one hand prying her legs open and the wrapping under her back adjusting her position.

Lillian's breath hitched when he positioned himself between her spread legs and something ice cold brush her burning pussy. She cried out when he pushed in. His hands were taking support from the mattress on either sides of her breasts and his expression was clenched as he pushed in. He gave no heed to her cry of pain and pushed in further, gasping and groaning at the incredible tightness and resistance his cock was feeling. Lightning bolts of indescribable feelings were striking his nerves and his eyes were clenched shut. Lillian's fingers tightened their grip on Harry's hair and she raised herself to bite into his shoulder. She nearly drew blood when Harry reared back and thrust again in an attempt to push in completely. The pain it caused her was blinding but Harry only cared about getting inside completely and with the fourth thrust he was buried inside her warmth to the hilt.

"Freckles," Harry gasped, feeling a rush of sensations that he had never felt before travel the length of his cock as he pushed in and felt her pussy muscles clamp down and pull him in.

The sensations travelled straight to his brain inducing a pleasurable haze in front of eyes which made him thrust harder and faster.

The pain was entangled with pleasure and with tears leaking from her clenched eyes she began to raise her hips to meet Harry's thrusts. The more it hurt, the more she wanted his cock to invade into her depths and heighten her ecstasy. The sound of their bodies thrusting against each other wildly brought out a long drawn moan that kept getting fuelled with every thrust of the cock burrowing into her.

A fire was building in her abdomen and the pain was soon forgotten and gone, paving the way for more and more pleasure to fill her senses. She gasped and bucked under him as the sensations suddenly changed and took her to a higher level of pleasure. Her hands were running wildly through his hair, grasping and pulling. She ran her hands over his back digging her nails in and scratching with pleasure clouding and overdosing her senses.

Harry felt a chill build up in his testicles at the speed at which his heart was racing. A sensation of an explosion was rising in him and he roughly grabbed Lillian's arms and pinned them behind her head allowing him further closeness to her. He could feel her hard nipples brush against his chest with every thrust. He could feel her soft legs wrap themselves around his waist to use as leverage to thrust back harder and faster. He could feel her breath every time his lips brushed against her. Every part of her that he touched was sending shocks of pleasure to his testes and making the coming explosion bigger and bigger.

Lillian cried out his name suddenly and Harry exploded. His world momentarily turned white with blinding sensations that took him to a place that was beyond pleasure. His hips continued to unconsciously thrust into Lillian.

The feeling of his ice cold semen spray into the depths of her pussy made the fire in her loin's react and erupt all through her body sending her to orgasmic heaven. Her body was writhing and trembling violently under Harry and she was literally laughing in ecstasy. She forgot about the presence of Harry above her as her mind was clouded with indescribable pleasure.

Slowly they returned to normal and Lillian was still giggling as they looked into each other's lust filled eyes that craved for more. If they had been in their normal state they would have been done a long time back and with unexpected amounts of difficulty. But with their elemental selves fully unleashed, they were far from done. Lillian tightened her grip around Harry's waist and flipped them over. Harry smirked at her enthusiasm and pulled her down for a searing kiss. They played with their tongues, revealing in the sparks of pleasure it sent through them. Her body was grinding against his, her labia rubbing over the length of Harry's semi hard cock urging it to harden fast so that she could experience that blistering pleasure an orgasm blew into her.

"Eager aren't you," Harry breathed into her ear softly and kissed the bottom of her ear. He began to trail kisses down her neck and Lillian stretched a hand behind her and sensually trailed her fingers on his testicles.

"Aren't you?" she retorted throatily.

Lillian's erotic actions didn't take long to succeed and this time without any brushes with pain she pressed Harry's cock into her opening. She gasped when her pussy walls were parted and Harry's breath was caught in his throat as his cock was once again clamped tightly on all sides by her tight pussy walls. Inch by inch she sank down on him, gasping at every centimetre covered and Harry laid his head back on the mattress and controlled his impulse to thrust wildly. He let the the pleasurable sensations wash over him and his eyes were fixed on Lillian's naked, grinding and sweaty body. His breath was shaky and body gushing with pleasure as his cock fully disappeared inside her and reappeared when she rose again. It was so hard to control the pressure building in his balls and Lillian's slow motion were equivalent to torture. His hands grasped her hips and helped her with her motions, gradually increasing her momentum. A shudder ran through his body when he saw her labia cling to his cock and slid up and down, coating him with her juices and speeding up with every thrust. Her gasps and moans got louder and shorter as her body began to bounce at a faster speed. Intense pleasure flooded his body with raw power and he thrust up suddenly eliciting delightful gasp from Lillian. A growl rose from the depths of his gut and he reared his hand back before letting it fall back and smack her arse.

Lillian's walls contracted against his cock and she placed her hands on his chest to take support as another jolt of pleasure tore through her.

"God yes," she whispered and began to bounce and grind on Harry more hurriedly, eager to experience another orgasm.

Harry watched in excitement as her pert breasts began to sway in rhythm and he smacked her on the arse again encouraging her to ride him faster. He could feel that pressure building in him again and judging by the look in Lillian glowing eyes, still encased in fire, he knew she was feeling it too. He raised himself to a half sitting position and captured her lips with his own and with his hands firmly holding her waist; he began to pull her harder and faster onto his full length. They moaned into each other's mouth, and Lillian slid her hands down to pinch his arse. Harry gasped and jerked his hips to meet her thrust. He suddenly wanted more of her. He wanted to pound into her frantically. His mind was beginning to lose control and with a primal growl he pushed her off him, much to her surprise and displeasure and swiftly moved behind her.

Lillian gasped when he pulled her onto her knees and shoved her face into the mattress, exposing her delectable arse to him. Harry positioned himself behind her and without warning quickly pushed and thrust into her again. Lillian cried out at the rush of pleasure and for a moment she couldn't bring herself to move while Harry fucked her without restraint, his hips slapping against her arse, not giving her any time to manoeuvre. But she was not going to let him dominate her like this and she screamed and raised her body, her back arched to allow Harry to thrust and blindly she let her hand roam his body while the other grasped a fist full of his hair.

They could feel it coming. Their bodies were connected both physically and spiritually and they could sense that orgasmic bomb tick inside them. Harry wrapped his arms around her torso, groping her breasts and tweaking her nipples while Lillian had a hand holding on to his testicles and was squeezing them roughly heightening Harry's pleasure with pain. Her groping aroused him to pinch her nipples and spank her arse again. The erotic cry that escaped her only served to motivate him further. His hand began to blur in tandem with his thrusting hips, throwing slap upon slap against both her arse cheeks and Lillian's cries got louder and eager. She abandoned squeezing his testicles in favour of rubbing her clitoris furiously and seconds later her orgasm tore through every nerve in her nubile body.

"Oh god!" she yelled. "Oh god!" she screamed over and over again. Her body stiffened as the orgasm ripped through her and her pussy squeezed the juice out of Harry's balls bringing him to another mind shattering orgasm. Both elementals gasped, moaned, grinded and twitched aggressively against each other lost in a world far removed from reality.

The blood lust of their elements that had turned to sexual lust was finally sated and both elementals stayed in the same position, breathing heavily and thoroughly exhausted after the battle and incredible fucking. Harry was still behind Lillian, his arms still wrapped around her loosely and Lillian was only still half standing because of the support of his arms.

Neither of them could think straight nor say anything after the pleasure they had just experienced left their minds and bodies leaving behind a void that was fast filling with absolute exhaustion. They just breathed loudly and after what seemed to be an eternity, with great effort, Harry let go of Lillian letting her fall on the bed and he too collapsed beside her. They were unaware of the blood, the remains of her hymen, semen and orgasmic secretions that was soaked into the mattress all around them.

That night they experienced what could only be referred to as orgasmic bliss. They took their minds and bodies on a trip that was impossible to achieve in a normal state, a state of pleasure that could not even be imagined and comprehended if it weren't for their elemental power. They ravaged each other until exhaustion soaked into their bones and they collapsed onto the bed, saturated with incredible pleasure wrecking wildly through their bodies.

They passed out in that sexual haze and woke up the next morning feeling sore, hungry and in the midst of more than an awkward silence.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts: 12 hours after the death of Wanbosi.**

"General!" shouted Captain Tully, bursting into General Casey's office.

General Casey was in the headmaster's office along with Croaker, Kingsley and Amelia. It had been almost a week since the elementals had gone and the situation in the Asian front had worsened. Voldemort had managed to detonate ten nuclear bombs in the major cities of China and India. The forces of Voldemort had torn through from Afghanistan and Mongolia into India and China.

The Australian human sanctuary was fully operational and fast filling. Wards upon wards were being layered everyday and powerful expanding magic were being employed on this inside to magically create the space that was needed to hide an entire species and sustain them forever if they battle for the world was lost.

"What is it?"

"We got new images of Ireland from our satellites," he said.

Everyone instantly went alert at the news. They all knew who exactly was currently in Ireland. "And?!" Casey barked.

"This was a huge fire north of a village called Drumard. Our satellite caught when it suddenly appeared out of nowhere. On further investigation, it was revealed that a building was hidden in the middle of a bog and the entire building was gutted by fire."

"Lillian," Amelia breathed.

"How long ago was this?!"

"About an hour ago around 10 A.M Ireland time, sir."

Casey thought for a moment, his body still. "Alright," he said finally. "Don't send anyone in. Just observe via satellite and keep me updated."

"What are you thinking?" Croaker asked, once the captain was gone.

"I'm thinking, there was a battle, Austin was involved and the enemy hideout was destroyed. That's all."

"Shouldn't we send someone to back them up?" Amelia asked frowning.

"They can take care of themselves," Casey said. "God knows they've proven it loads of times. What we have to do is wait and focus on the task at hand. The elementals will return when their mission is complete."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **5 A.M Ireland time**

Harry awoke to the very noticeable sensations of having a naked female body pressed against him. His heart skipped a beat and mind went alert immediately as the memories of last night came back to him.

"Oh Merlin," he muttered, his eyes widening. His eyes refocused on the dark hair under his chin and the light brown smooth skin pressed against him. He shifted slightly and felt his morning hardness pressed between Lillian's arse cheeks.

His movement roused her from her sleep and within moments Lillian realized what was behind her and what they had done last night.

For a time that felt terribly long neither of them said a word and didn't attempt to separate from each other. They were running through the memory of last night and trying to ascertain if what they did and the way they did it was because of being in their elemental state or was it because of the other's provocative actions. Did the other blame the other for what happened last night or was it both their faults? Or was it really a fault to begin with? It had been incredible!

Such thoughts were running through their minds and finally, after fifteen long tense minutes. Lillian broke the silence in a spectacular way. "I quite like feeling your cock between my arse," she said in a voice coated with false confidence.

Harry felt the tension leave his body and he chuckled. "I enjoyed it too," he said softly and kissed her shoulder. "Last night was real magic."

"It really was incredible," Lillian murmured. "I never imagined sex could feel like that. I was such a wild thing that I can't believe that was all me. I honestly can't believe that I actually did all that without a moment's hesitation!"

Harry laughed. "I can't believe it was me either. I never thought I could be so aggressive, let alone have that much energy," he said in slight disbelief. "I mean, I was…"

"The scratches on your back would like to differ," Lillian interrupted.

"You wish," Harry retorted.

The beginning of an odd argument made them realize that they weren't embarrassed or uncomfortable anymore. Lillian got up and turned around to look at him properly. Harry too sat up and looked at her. This was the first time, without being in a different state of the mind that they were looking at each other naked. Their eyes roamed from head to foot drinking in the sight of the body that was usually hidden behind fabric. The dimensions of their bodies were being mapped by the other and excitement was building in them once more. Her eyes strayed in fascination to his erect cock and testicles that were covered by long strands of hair above the cock and around his testicles most of the time and his eyes alternated between figuring out her breast size and the magical slit between her legs partly hidden behind a sparse of black hair.

They were feeling horny again.

Suddenly Harry stiffened and his eyes widened in alarm. "Merlin's pants!" he gasped.

"What is it?!"

"The prisoners," Harry said in horror. "We left them behind and the building was on fire."

"Oh my god," Lillian gasped, covering her mouth with her hands and her eyes were filled with fear.

"Let's go," Harry barked and they quickly gathered their clothes and put them on after casting a body cleansing spell on each other. Lillian glared at Harry when she found the remains of shirt and she stored that anger in the back of her mind for later. They had more important things to do so she summoned another T-shirt from her trunk. Once they were dressed, she caught hold of Harry, who quickly summoned their 'all utility bag' and in an instant fire transported them to Wanbosi's hideout.

It was exactly in the same state that they had left it in. The top three floors were gutted by fire but the rest of the building was intact. There was a massive pile of sliced up bodies on the side of the building along with evident traces of burnt and frozen ground. Part of the forest growing near the building had been destroyed and a thick layer of blood was mixed with the soil around the battle field.

Harry chuckled at the repulsive picture. The whole scene; a half destroyed mansion, a surrounding mist and forest, not to mention the large pile of mutilated corpses lying in one corner of the image like the artist just decided to add a little morbidity to an otherwise dark portrait.

And Harry was laughing at that, not feeling even the least repulsed. "Get us to the basement," Harry said to Lillian and with another burst of fire, they appeared in the basement.

They were immensely thankful that the prisoners were still alive and figuratively unharmed. "Calm down, we're friends!" Lillian shouted when the prisoners shrieked and begged for mercy at their sudden magical appearance in the basement.

"We're here to save you!" Harry shouted. "So please calm down so that we can help you escape!"

The prisoners muttered with each other, spreading the news to the neighbouring cages through the length of basement that two monsters were here to free them. To them anything with abnormal abilities was a monster. It was the only thing that they knew about magic.

"We are not the enemy," Lillian said, once the fear in the prisoners had calmed down and held back by a flimsy dam of resolve.

Harry had been in a few situations like this to know what had to be said. "Yes we are wizards and witches. We are human beings who can use magic. We are the good humans who are here to help you leave this monstrous hell. The things that kept you prisoner here were vampires and dark wizards and we are not one of them."

Harry paused to let the words sink in.

"Now if we are going to escape from here, I need you to understand that we are going to use magic to do it. This magic will feel uncomfortable and ticklish so just stay calm and you will be transported to a different location, far away from here. Now if you all understood that I want you to raise your hands."

The entire basement of muggle prisoners raised their weak arms to show Harry that they understood.

"Now I am going to pass a rope from this point and I want you to pass it along to everyone and make sure all of you keep at least one finger on the rope. Do you understand?!"

A murmur saying we understood rippled through the basement. The muggles were feeling a little bewildered at the appearance and firm speech of this young man who said he was a good wizard.

"Where to?" Lillian asked. She was also captured by Harry's speech.

"Dublin," Harry replied. "We have to get the other people out of there and having a group of muggles with us will help convince them."

Lillian nodded and scrunching her eyes in focus. She pointed her wand at the rope coming out of the bag and muttered, " _Portus."_

The rope glowed blue and Harry passed it through the cage to the waiting muggle. As the rope was passed along, the length kept increasing and it continued to spill out of the small bag endlessly.

It took almost fifteen minutes for the rope to be passed up and down the length of the basement and come back to Harry from the opposite cage.

"Is everyone touching the rope?" Harry shouted, his voice echoing slightly.

A murmur of yes travelled to his ears.

"Good, now hold on, don't panic and close your eyes."

Harry and Lillian counted till ten and then activated the portkey.

The group of approximately hundred and fifty humans was transported through a colourful vortex and three seconds later they were dumped in a field just outside the city of Dublin. The sudden appearance of sunlight and fresh air surrounded the muggle prisoners and instantly brought out a feeling of utter joy and relief. They laughed and cheered and all of them closed in on Harry and Lillian to thank them profusely.

Until they saw the sun and greenery around them, they never thought that they would ever be rescued. Even Harry's words had just calmed them but not given them any hope until they saw the sun.

Harry raised his arms and shouted for everyone to settle down and listen to him. They still had work to do.

"My name is Harry and this here is Lillian," he introduced. "Now we have a little work to do before we go back to our hideout where there are many of us and many of you hidden from the bad guys. We have to destroy that shit for brains' hideout and look for any more survivors. Do you understand?"

He waited for the usual murmur of yes.

"Until we do that I want you to wait here and go nowhere. We will be back in about thirty minutes after which we have to find the survivors in the city. Do you understand?"

The yeses rippled once more.

"Good," Harry said. "We will be back in half an hour so don't go anywhere." "Let's go," he said to Lillian, putting his hand in hers.

She brought them back to the entrance of the building.

"That was interesting," she said. "You were talking to them like an adult talks to a mentally impaired child."

"That are exactly that Freckles," Harry said grimly. "A normal person would feel annoyed and irritated if someone explained anything to them like that. It could make them angry even. But these people can only understand that language because anything else will just trigger the fear in them. Fear dominates their existence and they need to hear a parent soothingly explaining things to a child."

"Deep," Lillian said, impressed. "But what's more important is the missing wizards and werevamps that are supposed to be in the building."

"Werevamps?"

"Werewolf and vampire," Lillian explained.

Harry laughed. "Seriously?"

"Let's focus on the situation on the emotions here," Lillian said sarcastically.

They were exploring the building thoroughly and so far had found it completely abandoned. During the time they were consumed by sexual desire someone had left the prisoners and quickly made their escape with some equipment for sure and that also meant someone had seen their battle and probably reported it to Voldemort already. Both elementals felt stupidity and a little guilt for not having the foresight to finish the mission properly before being consumed by lust. But they reasoned it out by remembering how overpowering that lust was. Although finish the mission simply meant murder everyone in the building and it also hit them that the words murder everyone in the building did not have the slightest affect on them.

Finally, at least forty minutes later, they left the building. "Destroy it," Harry said and Lillian grinned.

She raised her hands and bursts of fire began to emerge from her fingers. She raised her fiery hands over her hand and then made a throwing motion towards the building. A jet of white hot fire burst out of the length of her joined arms and destroyed anything it came up against within minutes. Concrete, metal, brick, glass, everything was consumed and she moved her hands horizontally to cover the entire building. She parted her arms and directed the powerful flames to the dead vampires and they turned to ash almost instantaneously.

Harry's eyes looked at the spot where the vampire kings head was supposed to be there and saw that there was nothing. The head and the body were missing and Lillian's fire was consuming everything else.

Less than five minutes later, there was nothing but a pile of ash and feeble rubble instead of a large building.

"Why so pensive?" Lillian asked Harry.

"Vlad's body was not among the vampires," he said. His mind was filled with unlikely possibilities and what the vampire had said about elementals was ringing through his mind.

Lillian frowned. "The wizards could have taken it to burn or attempt a revival," she said. "It's not likely they will succeed seeing that his head was removed and heart burned to ash."

"Maybe," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Alright then," Lillian said. "Let's get the hell out of this place and then talk about what blood sucker told us."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **1 P.M, outside the magical barrier surrounding London.**

"Shall we begin Albus Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore turned around to look at the army of Drakons, otherwise known as free dragon, behind him. There are twenty of them and all were in their humanoid from, crackling with condensed power.

"Try to avoid women and children," Dumbledore said grimly. Voldemort's side was about to be dealt a massive crippling blow.

"We are not monsters, Albus Dumbledore," the leader of the Drakons chided. "This will be quick. However what happens after that is up to fate."

"After the carnage," Dumbledore said with a sigh. The after part had been well explained to him by the High Elf and Dwarf kings. If Voldemort retaliated with Evil's magic, then it was highly likely that the bonding of the vessel would be complete. Evil would enter the world once more.

Dumbledore pushed aside the doubts and steeled his resolve. "Let us begin," he said raising his wand.

The arcane barrier Voldemort had erected was rocked by the assault of fifty beams of highly condensed destructive magic expelled simultaneously.

The ground beneath Voldemort's London quaked in terror.


	57. Part 2 - Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Sudden Victory**

"Shall we begin Albus Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore turned around to look at the army of Drakons, otherwise known as free dragon, behind him. There are twenty of them and all were in their humanoid from, crackling with condensed power.

"Try to avoid women and children," Dumbledore said grimly. Voldemort's side was about to be dealt a massive crippling blow.

"We are not monsters, Albus Dumbledore," the leader of the Drakons chided. "This will be quick. However what happens after that is up to fate."

"After the carnage," Dumbledore said with a sigh. The after part had been well explained to him by the High Elf and Dwarf kings. If Voldemort retaliated with Evil's magic, then it was highly likely that the bonding of the vessel would be complete. Evil would enter the world once more.

Dumbledore pushed aside the doubts and steeled his resolve. "Let us begin," he said raising his wand.

The arcane barrier Voldemort had erected was rocked by the assault of fifty beams of highly condensed destructive magic expelled simultaneously.

The ground beneath Voldemort's London quaked in terror.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **London, 12:45 P.M**

Yaxley did not have good news to present to his lord, if the red trail of blood following the sack he was holding was an indication.

Voldemort glanced at the sack and the nervous expression of Yaxley and gestured to show him what was inside.

The Count's head rolled out, still betraying the shock and surprise it felt when it was detached from the body.

Voldemort's eyes darkened. "How did this happen?!" he hissed.

"T-the Elemental My Lord," Yaxley said. "He infiltrated the base and killed everyone."

"How did you escape?"

"I had a portkey to the North American city for later," Yaxley said.

"Did you send back up to avoid this disaster?"

"My Lord, there were two elementals."

Voldemort froze. "What did you say?"

"There were two elemental's, My Lord. The other was fire."

Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise and then contracted to anger. "Another one?" he whispered coldly. "How long ago was this Yaxley?"

A-a-almost twelve hours ago," Yaxley said, feeling terrified at the inevitable punishment that was about to come.

There was a slight sound of wind rushing past him and his horrified eyes saw his left arm fall to the floor with a thud. Blood spurted out from both ends of the sliced arteries and Yaxley grabbed the bloody stump and screamed. He fell to his knees sobbing and begging for mercy as agony assaulted his mind.

"You were away My Lord! You were co-ordinating the attacks on Russia and you gave orders not to be disturbed," he screamed, the excruciating pain causing his vision to shake. "The Elemental's were too powerful! They slaughtered anyone who even got close to them!"

Voldemort ignored his rambling and caught hold of his jaws and raised his head to look into those snivelling eyes. There was just glimpse of the battle but he could not miss the recognisable visage of Harry Potter. Voldemort's rage grew and Yaxley's mind was on the verge of being thrown into the waiting grasp of insanity.

But he stopped and let the miserable form of his death eater crawl into a foetal position on the floor. "Get every Death Eater, every Vampire, every Werewolf and every monster Wanbosi created and get me those Elemental's!" Voldemort roared.

The dark lord's anger pierced through Yaxley's eyes and he turned his terrified eyes to his Lord. "I managed to move the monsters to North America with me, My Lord. I saved them, My Lord."

"And that is the only reason your arm was taken and not your head," Voldemort replied.

"We-we need your power to defeat them, My Lord," Yaxley whimpered. "Numbers mean nothing to their power. We need someone capable of crushing them with magic!"

Voldemort wanted to destroy Yaxley for even saying those words but he knew them to be true. They had killed the Count; a vampire whose power was a match for his. A sliver of fear was produced by his body and Voldemort hesitated to reply; a movement that did not go unnoticed by Yaxley. His Lord was afraid of the Elementals and for witnessing such an act his life was extinguished the next second.

Voldemort had to gather his forces and lead the attack on Harry Potter and the mysterious second elemental if they had to defeat and kill them. He realized this and knew he had to do this without dark magic.

The pool of blood growing around the late Yaxley touched his boots and grew around them. Voldemort looked at it dispassionately and then came to a decision. He could not afford to let go of this chance to destroy Harry Potter. He turned heel and briskly walked out of the room, leaving a trail of bloody footsteps behind him.

He reached the floating castle's entrance when the entire city was rocked by an Earthquake. He stumbled and grabbed the door to steady him after the unexpected jolt. "What in Salazar's name?" he hissed and then looked into the sky. Ripples of blood red magic were crawling all over his powerful wards that shielded his city. The ground quaked again as the magic intensified its assault.

London was under deadly attack.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Dublin, 2 P.M**

Harry and Lillian were exhausted.

The last twenty four hours had been the longest of their lives. They had infiltrated their targets base; killed the target, along with the king of Vampires as a bonus. They had consumed each other in uncontrollable lust and then returned to rescue the muggles from captivity. Then they had to take them to Dublin and look for the remaining survivors in the city.

They were still looking and had found more than a dozen hideouts were muggles were surviving. They even found the kid, who they were told was suffering from autism and had been terrified by them because of it. That was another exhausting encounter; having to explain themselves to the muggles whose questions never seemed to end.

The muggles also insisted on burying the dead that the kept finding all along the way but Harry refused outright. "We're not here to pay respects to the dead," he said sharply. "We're here to find and rescue any _living_ being that we find."

They had not been happy to hear that. "Who are you anyway?!" one Muggle woman burst out in anger and frustration. "Both of you look like a bunch of 18 year olds! Are you even capable of taking care of yourselves?!"

Harry and Lillian exchanged a bemused look. So the muggles thought they were eighteen. They wondered how they would react if they told them that they were just shy of fifteen.

They had grown a lot during this mission and it showed; physically and mentally. The magic they used was accelerating their physical growth to adulthood. Mentally they felt like they were already there and it was an odd feeling that they were still trying to get used to. It had been happening to Harry for some time now, but for Lillian it was too sudden.

"We are eighteen year olds who just saved your arse from torture, death and experiments," Lillian said nonchalantly. "So if I were you, I'd sit tight, let us do our job and take you to a safe place."

The woman was about to retort but Harry interrupted. "And once you're all safe, we'll come back to ensure the dead get the burial they deserve," he placated. "Now let's focus on finding every last survivor and leave this hell."

He looked at Lillian from the corner of his eye as they continued their search. The woman was right. Something had changed. He wasn't looking at a girl anymore, but a woman. The features that made her a child were gone from her face and she seemed to have grown a little taller too.

Lillian felt his eyes on her and she turned to look at him. Harry realized he was no longer looking at Lillian; the short tempered, sharp tongued, Gryffindor house student who did overdid everything that she set her mind too. He was looking at an older, more beautiful, matured Lillian; one who oozed power and confidence. A Lillian that awoke emotions in him, he had never felt before.

"You've changed too," Lillian said smiling coyly, reading his mind. "If I had to put it in words, I'd say your face has hardened and grown tremendously after last night."

"I feel different too," he replied. "Do you?"

Lillian sighed deeply and laughed. "I feel alive, really alive. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, I think I do understand."

It took them till five in the evening to use magic and find every survivor in the entire city. There could be more but if there were, they couldn't find them without more resources. Once again Harry gave them a speech telling them about the rough ride they were going to experience on the way to Hogwarts and to just stay calm and not throw up.

He passed the rope to everyone again and Lillian turned the rope into a portkey to Hogwarts. It was time to go home. "Activate," Lillian said, touched her wand to the rope and the group of almost two hundred and fifty were pulled into a vortex of colours.

Fifteen seconds later, they crash landed into the Quidditch ground of Hogwarts, which was the designated portkey drop for groups, the size of five hundred. As soon as they arrived dozens of wizards, witches and muggles rushed into the grounds to take away the survivors hurried and calmly to the tents around the pitch. The Quidditch ground had to be cleared as quickly as possible to be prepared for the next group of survivors. They were always on the watch.

This had happened after the departure of Harry and Lillian so they just looked at everything in bewilderment. The muggles were separated into groups of ten with practiced efficiency and then they were taken to separate tents where the wounded were separated and sent for treatment while the others were portkeyed out of Hogwarts. Of course, they were compassionate and ensured that the muggles understood what was happening.

Only Harry and Lillian had no idea what was happening.

Lillian caught one of the soldiers running across the field. "Hey! We rescued these guys. Mind telling us what the bloody hell is going on?"

"We're sending them to the sanctuary in Australia," he said briskly. "If you're the agents who brought them in then I suggest you go to the General's office to debrief."

"What?"

"Good day," said the soldier and hurried back on his path, his rifle hanging from his back.

"What the hell? When did Hogwarts turned into a bloody military camp?" Lillian burst out. Everything was so different!

"I think this is a result of having a hard arse General in charge," Harry scoffed.

"God damn Casey," Lillian growled.

"Let's go and do… what was it?"

"Debrief," Lillian prompted, rolling her eyes.

"Right, debrief," Harry said grinning.

They walked through the grounds, feeling good at the familiar sights and entered the castle. The headed straight for the headmasters office and found it a little odd that there was so little activity in the castle.

They reached the Gargoyle and instead of the usual password, it asked them their names.

"How long have we been gone?!"

"Names?" the second Gargoyle asked in a bored tone.

"Harry Potter and Lillian Austin," Lillian said impatiently.

The Gargoyles jumped aside revealing the moving spiral staircase. They stepped on it and were taken to the oak door that opened into the headmaster's office.

Harry knocked and the door sprung open.

There were more people inside than they had counted on and what made their jaws drop was the humanoid beast, radiating red light from the cracks in its rocky body beside Albus Dumbledore, whom they last heard was on a quest to find free dragons.

It wasn't hard to connect the dots.

"Harry, Lillian," Dumbledore said smiling happily. "It's wonderful to see you!"

"It's good to see you too Headmaster," Harry said smiling. But Lillian and he were more curious to know what exactly was happening here. The office had turned into their conference room and almost all the members of the order and key members of the Resistance were seated around the table.

Dumbledore waved his wand and two comfortable chairs appeared between Sirius and Sarah, separating them to give room for the two elementals.

General Casey, who was on the other side of Dumbledore, stood up, clapped his hands twice and then saluted them with a proud look in his eyes. All the military people in the room followed and saluted the pair while the rest of the room clapped loudly.

The Elementals were more than confused now.

"You two have dealt a major blow to the enemy by yourselves," Casey said with pride. "And Dumbledore, with the help of the Drakons has taken back London from the enemy."

Harry and Lillian gasped, theirs eyes wide in shock and wonder.

"Sit down you two," Sirius barked cheerfully. "Get that stupid look off your faces and tell us what happened!"

Sirius's voice broke through their confusion and they quickly went to the seats made available for them. "I want to hear Dumbledore's story first," Lillian said, sinking into her seat regally. She crossed her legs and leaned back into the amazingly comfortable chair.

"I concur," Harry said lazily, enjoying the comfort of the chair.

"I was wondering when the arrogance was going to make a return," Snape said in a bored tone.

"Shut your piehole, Snape. It reeks," Sirius barked.

"A dog would know best I suppose," Snape retorted. There was no malice in their voice and words. They just bantered out of habit now. And they didn't want to admit that they were almost like friends now.

"Welcome back you two," Remus said smiling and acknowledgment's from everyone familiar followed.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, mind we get back to business?" Croaker said dryly.

Dumbledore started. "I found a city," he said. "An incredible city hidden from the violence of the world. In this city I was introduced to beings of the past and given a clear explanation of the true meaning being this fight for survival."

Harry raised his hand to stop Dumbledore. He wanted to say what was on his mind before Dumbledore could. "I want to give a brief explanation of my understanding of this war," he said.

Dumbledore nodded and everyone looked on curiously.

"Before we killed Vlad, he told us some very interesting things that made a lot of sense but sounded like complete horse shit as well. He told us that with the creation of the world, there was the creation of two life forms of equal power and opposite personalities, whose only purpose was to defeat the other and build the world in their image. They created life in order to find new ways to fight and destroy the other. Humans were an accident on the part of both good and evil and they were a wildcard they had not expected to create. Am I right so far?"

Dumbledore nodded grimly.

"The white side of the coin, is us and the black side is them; dark magic," Harry said slowly. "White allowed the humans to grow while black did not like it at all. And as a result of this some humans tried to summon magic from another dimension to give them the strength to stand up against both sides of the coin and to ensure their survival. These humans became elementals and the only power capable of permanently shifting the balance of power to the side they chose."

"That's right," Dumbledore said and the others listened, captivated by Harry's words. Dumbledore had not been so detailed. He had just given them an abstract picture of the shape of things of the past.

"Which is why all the prophecies made by our side, point to Lillian and me. Because we are the only two Elementals in the world. We've reached the point where the fate of the war will be decided and one side of the coin will get to make life on this Earth while the other has to be annihilated."

"And because you have the power to be the master of that wand," the Drakon said, his voice almost like the sound of lava bubbling out of a volcano.

"This is Dar Draedon," Dumbledore said, introducing the mighty creäture. "He is the leader of the Drakons."

"Sorry for killing one of your friends," Harry said bowing his head in respect.

"Our losses will be avenged," the Drakon rumbled. "The time has come for all creatures light and dark to assemble at the field of battle. The prophesied one has arrived and Evil will rise soon. This battle can go either way because to counter the power of the Elementals, Evil has been turning humans to his side since the time he was defeated by our side with the help of the Peverell brothers. They called themselves brothers but they were not related. The eldest was a powerful human mage and the other two were elementals of Earth and Water."

"How did it survive if it was defeated?" Harry asked. It was a question which was vital to his understanding of this war the world was engulfed in. "How is it that is war didn't end that day and evil survived to cause this catastrophic disaster to our world."

"Evil did not cause this. He merely provided the tools and it was humans who did this. They allowed evil to fester and grow which resulted in your Lord Voldemort's growth to power. Humans are the ones who did this to the world."

"You didn't answer my question," Harry said coldly.

"I just did," the Drakon replied, steam rising from his body; an indication of his volatile temper.

"How did they cause this?" Harry pressed.

"Evil was defeated. _Left to die._ But humans, elemental or no, are easy to corrupt. They have parts of both Good and Evil and we never considered their evil side could be so easily summoned. The fading existence of evil seduced their wicked desires and in exchange for power, he took from them a life to save its own."

"A life?"

"A human, one of the son's of Cadmus Peverell, was scarified in their greed for power and evil survived. We trusted the humans and evil was allowed to survive. We swore to never make that mistake again and retreated from this world. We let humans occupy this world and hid ourselves in a paradise of our own making. We decided never to interfere with humans unless Evil rose again and then we could come back to fight because that's who the real enemy is."

There was a minute of silence as the words sunk in. Dumbledore just closed his eyes, having been told the entire story earlier.

"Evil has not returned yet so why have you shown yourselves?"

"Voldemort stumbled upon one of our entrances. He is a powerful mage and he was able to trap three of our kind. He sneaked up and captured them like the coward he is. If he had faced them and fought a worthy battle, he would have been destroyed. This allowed Albus Dumbledore to seek and find us and because of the prophecy we allowed him to live and joined the battle once more."

"What prophecy?"

"The Elemental with the power of the wand will rise to herald the end of the war."

"But nothing about winning or losing," Lillian said softly.

"I can sense both your powers, young ones," the Drakon said. "I can also feel the strength of your souls. Humans can be influenced by both sides. But your instinct leads us to our side. With your help and the help of your species; after thousands of years, we can bring this battle to an end with our survival. You have a power which is not of this world and if you guide it against Evil with pure hearts, our victory is undeniable."

"Hear, hear," Dumbledore said softly.

"Pure hearts," Harry mocked. "We're just the other side of war. A side that has every reason to win as much as the other side."

"Does that bother you?" Croaker asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not especially. Just thinking about how we're just the final piece of a puzzle that has been stitching itself through time. And now the final piece shall be black or white."

"Don't be so depressing," Tonks said. "This is the end of the world for one side one way or the other. It was due maybe ten thousand years ago or a hundred thousand years from now. The point is it's here now."

"Excellent words Madam Tonks," the Drakon acknowledged.

"Well Dumbledore's story is out of the way, let's hear your report," Casey said.

"No much to tell. We found survivors in Dublin. They were attacked by experimental monsters by Wanbosi's crew. A sort of vampire and werewolf mix."

"Werewolf-Vampire!?"

"We tracked them and managed to find his hideout where we killed him, managed to kill the king of vampires while we were at it and rescued the muggles who were hustled to Australia as soon as we arrived."

"What of the experiments?"

"Err, we were a dead on our feet after the battle," Harry said quickly. They didn't need to know about what happened after the battle and why it happened. "The battle was intense and we had to battle our way through hundreds of blood suckers."

Many people gasped.

"So you can understand why searching the building was not really an option for us at the time."

"You took a nap after an assassination?" Sarah said dryly. "Quite the professionals," she said smirking.

"We returned the after a few hours but the building was cleaned out, most probably by wizards," Harry continued.

He kept speaking and telling them the vital details while Sarah leaned close to Lillian and whispered as softly as possible. "You guys had sex after the battle didn't you, you naughty girl."

Lillian put her hands on Sarah thigh and pinched her hard. " _Later_ ," she hissed under her breath.

Sarah had a broad smile on her face for the rest of the meeting. After Harry finished, there were further discussion about the whereabouts of Voldemort, through with the intimidating Drakon kept silent. London had been taken and the dark wizards had left. They surprisingly had an escape route and had fled without even putting up a fight. It was only the newborn vampires and a few thousand Goblins who had attempted to fight providing just enough time to let the rest escape. They knew the other cities being built were not their targeted destination thanks to the numerous agents that had inside which meant there was another city; a hidden city which was the backup Voldemort had created.

The forces of Voldemort attacking the east and the south retreated and disappeared from the battle, sounding a tremendous victory for the Resistance. Sections of their armies; magical and muggle were surrounding the five cities of Voldemort's empire and were getting ready to seize them from the enemy. They didn't seem to be any fight expected from the enemy after Voldemort's flight from London. The world had been retaken but Voldemort and his army had gone into hiding, preparing their next mode of attack.

But for now they had won with the instrumental help of twenty Drakons. Now the task of taking a foothold in the dominance for Earth was desperately needed or else Voldemort could get enough time to take it all back. He had managed to find a way to subdue three Drakons, no matter if he had to do it like a snake. That was what he was and he would find a way to neutralize the Drakons. Thus they had to move quickly and take control even faster.

"Have we figured out how we are going to reverse the damage blowing up half the planet with nuclear bombs did?"

"Someone's working on it," Casey said. "We have thousands of miles to cover with the ability to cover a hundred."

"Thank you for coming," Dumbledore said politely. "I'm sure many of us have a lot of rest to catch up on after the wonderful victory. Rest today, tomorrow we have to cover a thousand miles in the time it should take us to cover fifty."

Half the room looked at Dumbledore in disbelief.

"Are the Drakons going to help us?"

"No," Dumbledore said. "They agreed to help us in return for Harry."

"What?!"

"What the bloody hell!?"

Harry's eyes narrowed while everyone jumped to conclusions. His eyes found Dumbledore's and the twinkle he saw in them put his rising suspicion to ease. "Sounds good," Harry said, over the noise.

Every turned to him with disbelief this time. Wasn't he even going to ask what this is about?

"Good day," Harry said smiling and he made eye contact with the Drakon before leaving the room.

Lillian snapped out of her shock and tripped over her chair in her hurry to go after Harry. "Shit, sorry, sweet meeting this was," she said in a rush and dashed after Harry.

She punched his shoulder for leaving so abruptly without even warning her. Harry laughed and rubbed his shoulder. "Why the anger?" he asked, grinning.

"You could have at least told me you were going to leave. You knew I'd follow didn't you?"

"It crossed my mind."

" _Dick_ ," Lillian said to him.

"I'm Harry actually," he retorted.

"And you're a dick as well."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but then the exit wouldn't have been so grand."

Lillian sighed mockingly. "And here I was thinking you had outgrown those annoying Slytherinish traits of yours."

"Those are some of my best ones!"

"Unfortunately they are," Lillian grumbled. "I'm beat, I need to sleep."

"I'm going to my mermaid room," Harry said. "You want to join or…." He trailed into silence and looked at her uncertainly. They hadn't really spoken about their trip and what happened at the end of it. There was a lot they needed to talk about.

"Obviously your room," she said after a moment. She laughed nervously because she hadn't given any thought to their next move after the sex. In such a short space of time, they had gone from kissing and touching to blind lust driven sex. There was still a lot left to process apart from their new comfort of being naked in front of each other.

They walked side by side silently after that to his room, absorbed in their own minds as the unravelled the last two weeks of their lives.

They arrived and Lillian giggled along with the mermaid when Harry kissed her lips. Watching the mermaid and Harry always amused her without fail. "I realized you mentioned the room as the mermaid room," she said suddenly.

"I refused to allow him to enjoy our kisses if he didn't," the mermaid said in her sweet soft pitched voice.

"Ah," Lillian said nodding her head in understanding, "He'd been in trouble if we didn't let him enjoy the comforts of kissing our lips."

"Ha ha," Harry deadpanned. "Get in smart arse."

Harry started to undress the moment he stepped into the room. "I got to get out of these clothes," he muttered.

Lillian followed and she groaned as her body ached when she started to remove her clothes. "I need a good massage to iron out this exhaustion I'm feeling," she groaned. "You got any shitty cloths I could transfigure?"

"They're not shitty and you can wear one of my shirts," he said stripping down to his boxers and getting into the bed with a slight groan. He too was exhausted.

Lillian stripped down to her bra and panty and rummaged through Harry's wardrobe.

Harry's breath shuddered at the sight of barely covered arse, teasingly showing half of her arse but covering the rest with a thin black silk material highlighting the curve of her arse. His eyes followed the trail of her spine up her back to the hair swaying freely at length below her shoulders.

"I was wrong," he said and Lillian turned to him curiously, wondering what he was referring to.

"About what?"

"Clothes are not _just_ clothes," he admitted.

The memory of their argument before the infiltration was brought to the forefront of Lillian's mind and she smirked. "Do you like what you see?" she teased.

"You have no idea," Harry breathed.

"Well," Lillian smiled. "I suppose one of your shirts will do for now. I don't think I have the strength to transfigure."

She removed her bra and put on Harry's Quidditch jersey. It barely reached the top half of her thighs but she liked it. She walked to the bed and sat down beside him, her back taking support of the pillows and legs stretched out.

Harry put his arm around her shoulders and they both sighed. It really had been a long week and now they were finally resting.

"Did you know it could happen?" Lillian asked him.

"Did I know what could happen?"

"That it was possible I could lose control the way I did?"

"Yes," Harry said honestly. "It happened to me time I killed the death eaters destroying London. By the time I had killed a dozen, the power in me was so addicted to the rush of killing that I slaughtered them all without a hint of remorse. When I was done, I somehow pushed back my element and realized what I had done. It made me puke.

The subsequent battles I was involved in made me crave for death and blood. I wanted to destroy everything but I somehow managed to control myself."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered.

"Because I didn't want you to have to kill anyone. But it was inevitable and I decided to be there if it did happen."

"I don't feel sick at all," she said. "After killing all those vampires I feel just fine. Delighted even!"

"Does that frighten you?"

"I don't know," she said, a little fear creeping into her voice. What did this mean about her was the main question in her mind.

"It's what we are Freckles," Harry whispered. "I stopped thinking of myself as human a long time ago. In my soul, I know that I enjoy killing and brutality. But it is just a part of me and the important thing is to know where that vicious part needs to be directed. Having a clear distinction between them is vital to your peace of mind."

"What about the sex," she said softly. "What has your mind decided about that?"

"What have you decided?" Harry asked in return.

"It's there in our human and elemental halves of the soul," she said after thinking about it. "It's just immensely powerful and intense on the side of the element."

"What about the human?"

"We won't know until we try," Lillian said smirking.

Harry laughed. "Well I never thought I'd be saying this in my fantasies about sex, but I'm too bloody exhausted too show you a good time."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let you pull ze moves on moi," she joked.

"Anyway, what I was saying was you must accept some of those desires of yours into your human side. You'll feel your personality change a bit but you'll gain greater control over your element."

"Great," Lillian sighed. "Learn to love dismembering people. Sure, why not?" she said sarcastically.

"It was however, the first time I've experienced lust for sex after a battle. Usually I have to fight hard to push down the impulse to slaughter but last night, I didn't have to fight at all."

"I'm glad I didn't have to feel that," she said. "I can't imagine how difficult it would be if there was no one to help you calm those urges. Nick told me that elemental's always yearn for isolation. I think I understand why."

"Why?" Harry asked curiously.

"Everything in the world feels like it's not enough. There are many things can make your senses go haywire and make you lose control. I mean I have spoken to a lot of chicks about their first time and what he did doesn't even come close to their greatest experience thereafter."

Harry's mind took a sharp turn and changed directions. "Really?" he said, his voice laced with interest.

"Really what?"

"You've talked with, umm, other girls about their first times? Care to share any details?"

Lillian couldn't believe it. Laughter was threatening to burst out of her. "Seriously Harry?!" she said sniggering.

"Why not? An outer perspective would be interesting and give us an insight into the difference of our elemental and human sides."

"Perspective my arse," Lillian said rolling her eyes. "If it helps stroke your pride that all you need to know is that we rock the world of sex. If I told anyone, they wouldn't believe me at all or else they would be ready to whore themselves out to you at a moment's notice."

Harry tried hard not to smile, but he couldn't keep his lips from curling.

"Oh you're pathetic!" Lillian said, annoyed. "Good night pervert."

She wiggled under the bed sheet, adjusting the pillows and turned on her side, away from Harry.

"It's a natural reaction!" Harry defended. "Can you imagine how the thought of being a wet dream for women appeals to a human? And I'm an elemental so how do you think I feel when you put such thoughts into my head?!"

She didn't reply and he called her name. She still didn't reply after he called three times and he leaned over to see why she was so pissed off. He then realized that she had fallen asleep the moment she lay flat on the bed.

He smiled and chuckled and sank into the bed himself. He closed his eyes, heaved a deep sigh and was sucked into sleep seconds later.


	58. Part 2 - Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – Step One**

Lillian was the first to wake up late in the morning. Her eyes flickered open, cringing at the light streaming through the window. She wanted to go right back to sleep but through her drowsiness she noticed she had her arms wrapped around Harry's torso hugging him tightly from behind him. A tingle of contentment languidly travelled through her body and she snuggled into him further. She yawned into his neck and felt pins and needles prickling the arm under Harry mercilessly.

She winced and rolled away, drawing her arm sharply as the feeling intensified. "Bloody hell," she groaned and yawned again.

The swift withdrawal of her arm jerked Harry and he awoke from his deep slumber. "Wasshapnin?" he mumbled, eyes still closed but mind shirking of the sleep.

"Pins and needles," Lillian grunted, rubbing her arm, trying to get the blood flowing again. She pushed herself into a sitting position and glared at the room blearily.

Harry, too, sat up on the bed with great effort and blinked rapidly, getting rid of the drowsiness. His stomach growled loudly and it made him wide awake. He summoned his wand and cast the spell to check the time.

"It's almost one," he sighed. "The last time we ate was almost 24 hours ago."

Lillian took a deep breath and shook her head. "Shower first?"

"Together?"

"Why not?" Lillian replied grinning. "We could work ourselves an appetite."

Harry laughed. "I don't know what can be worse than this kind of hunger."

They looked at each other grinning, wanting the same thing. Both moved towards each other simultaneously and pressed their lips together. Heart rates jumped up a notch and the excited elementals shifted closer to each other running their hands through their hair, bringing them as close to each other as possible. The kissing got more heated, icy; in Harry's case and he put his hand on her inner thigh, rising up towards her pussy. He ran his fingers around the edge of her panties, teasing her and slid his hand further up the soft flesh under his Quidditch jersey.

Lillian moaned into his mouth slid her own hands into his shirt, sliding over his hard skin, his broad chest, the taut abdomen, his spine; while they continued their passionate lip lock. She adjusted her position and slid onto his lap.

They never broke lip contact. They sucked, they bit, they wrestled their tongues and it never felt enough.

With Lillian straddling his hips, Harry hand went up her shirt and grasped her breast, squeezing those rubbery capped hillocks while the other hand groped her arse, helping her grind her cloth covered damp pussy over his straining cock.

They broke apart for a moment to allow Lillian to remove the jersey and Harry wasted no time in dipping his mouth over her tits, sucking on them turn by turn.

Lillian moaned and arched her head back, allowing him better access. Supporting her lower back with a hand he arched her back further trailing kisses around her breasts, over her abdomen, the top of her thighs.

He quickly got onto his knees, moved back and laid her back on the bed while continuing the kisses, which were igniting a blaze wherever they touched, inside Lillian. He kissed her thighs, inside and out, went down her calves and all the way to the tip of her toes.

She was gasping and panting, as the fire grew brighter and her toes curled when he kissed her foot. He trailed kisses up the other leg that was built to perfection and paid extra attention to her inner thighs.

He looked up, from between her legs, at her panting face and grinned, his pupils dilated with arousal. He pushed her panty aside, exposing her moist pussy and kissed it softly.

"Haannrgghh!" Lillian gasped, her eyes widening and legs locking around his neck. "H-Harry!"

Harry was delighted with the reaction. He stuck his tongue out and lit a blaze of fire inside Lillian as he trailed his tongue all over her labia lips.

Lillian's abdomen was rising and falling rapidly as her breathing became erratic.

He kissed the hood covering her clit and then pulled it back to lick that highly sensitive cluster of nerves.

"Oh god!" she cried, her hips jerking up. "S-stop!" she said, breathing harshly. "Ha-harry stop!"

Harry pulled back and got up straight, looking at the sexy visage of his girlfriend, panting in confusion.

"I want to do it under the shower," she breathed excitedly.

"Right, that was the plan," Harry said, his breath coming short too. Her moaning voice turned him on greatly.

Lillian quickly removed her panty and Harry divested himself of clothes too. She winked at him and hurried to the shower. Her swaying hips and round arse tugged Harry along behind her with his erect cock bobbing as he hurried behind her.

A wave of his hand turned the ceiling shower on and their lips were on each other's again, this time moving with frenzied desire. With water cascading down on them, Lillian wrapped a leg around Harry's thighs, inviting his cock into her depths.

Harry wrapped his hands around her thigh, lifting it higher for better access while Lillian's warm hands guided his cock into her pussy.

Both moaned when his cock pushed into her tight canal and Lillian wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his head down. She didn't want to let his lips leave hers. Not when they were sending such incredible bolts of pleasure through her mind.

Harry shuddered when the intense feeling of having a warm, wet, tight and soft pussy engulfing the tip of his cock made his legs go weak. His strength was failing him, unlike the time with their elements in control and the sexual pleasure was weakening his ability to thrust. "F-Freckles!" Harry gasped, tightening his grip on her leg and waist and he pulled her in.

"Lie down," Lillian moaned. She was being split apart inch by inch and at the point of intrusion, there was a fire that was ruining her ability to stand on just one leg. "Lie down," she said again, her voice low and weak.

Harry drew back, unable to go fully in with the way they were and he lay on his back, the water from the ceiling falling all over them.

Lillian crossed her legs over him and stood above, giving him a great view of her dripping cunt and erect tits. She knelt down, placing a knee on either side of his torso and slowly lowered her hips onto his throbbing cock. She grasped his cock in her hand and positioned it below her opening before pushing her weight over it, allowing it to disappear inside. "Nngh!" was the sound that instinctively came from her throat, triggered by his cock. She placed her hands on his chest and slowly sank down, her expression tight with rising pleasure and discomfort. Her mind was straying away from her as she sank, right down to the hilt of his cock.

Harry's eyes were clenched and he was holding her taut thighs, while he fought against the bursting feeling in his balls. How amazing it was, to have your cock buried inside a pussy. He was breathing slowly and trying not to thrust up and hurt Lillian. This was so unlike what they had experienced in their elemental states. It was difficult and felt even more intense.

Her body stayed buried for a few seconds while Lillian mentally and physically adjusted to the penis.

"Move Freckles," Harry groaned and she managed to rise again, shivering at the feeling of it withdrawing before slowly descending back again. She didn't move too much, she didn't think she could handle this pleasure if they fucked like last time. Added to that, her mind was being sent into a tizzy of anxiety because of the intrusion. It felt like his cock wasn't supposed to be there but the pleasure was overriding all such thoughts and discomforts.

Her dilated blue eyes met his lust filled green and removed her hands from his chest and bent down to kiss him.

Harry wrapped his arms around her neck and drew his feet back; helping her move as they kissed and Lillian managed to move her body with a little more control, getting past the anxiety and slight pain. She grinned at him when they finally separated their lips and they gazed into each other's eyes, unblinking, their noses barely a centimetre apart.

Her hair was cascading around his face and after a few minutes of easing into the motions of sex, Harry began to gently raise his hips, meeting her thrusts midway.

Their pace was still slow; they were still pecking each other's lips now and then and panting loudly as they felt the now familiar feeling of climax come closer. Harry fondled her breasts, pinching and pulling her tits making her pussy clamped harder and her reaction was a little gasp and a harder thrust.

Lillian put her elbows on his chest and pushed herself up again. A wild emotion was flooding her senses. It was egging her to move faster and take him deeper. She arched her back moaning and Harry grabbed her waist, helping her rotate on his pelvis. Juices from her sex were coating his stomach and thighs as she moved back and forth, never letting his cock leave her depths, with incredibly harmonized movements. Her eyes were closed, body flushed and her thighs tightened their grip beside his waist as she sensually ran her hands all over her body, whispering indecipherable words.

She rubbed her clit, ran her hands through her hair and down her neck to squeeze her breasts as her gyration got wilder and Harry's thrusts kept pace with near perfect coordination. His wide eyes, filled with to the brim with barely restrained pleasure were riveted on her incredible form and he was thrusting up with greater force and speed.

The sound of the water was lost in the midst of their loud moans, grunts and cries. Their bodies began to move hurriedly, urging their climax nearer which was held at bay behind a door holding back an ocean of pleasure.

The door to Harry's orgasm slammed open and he exploded deep inside her pussy. The ice cold cum reacted with Lillian's fiery pussy and her walls clamped down hard, spilling juices like a new born stream.

They cried out, blinded by their orgasms, thrusting and grinding against each other erratically. Harry's arse lifted off the ground and he spilled rope after rope of freezing cum into Lillian's cunt, triggering multiple orgasms that had Lillian shaking uncontrollably.

Lillian was leaning into him, her teeth biting into his shoulder and Harry's fingers dug into her fleshy arse, keeping his cock buried deep in her until his orgasm subsided. Just like the chill of his semen sent waves of pleasure coursing through her body, her burning pussy had his mind wrapped in a cocktail of a heavy dose of bliss enhanced with a thrilling pain that he didn't want to let go off.

It was the growl and gnaws of hunger that brought them out of their spinning ecstasy and the sound of the water along with their laboured breaths came back, their volumes being turned up as the bliss went out.

Lillian giggled when his cock slid out with a pop and his cum followed; washed away by the water. Harry chuckled too. "Do you think sex would feel this way if you and I were normal humans," Harry whispered.

Lillian stretched her legs, entwining them with his and she lay on his chest with her arms folded and chin resting on them.

The water never stopped. It kept the emotions alive, in a constant state of flow.

"This wasn't just sex," Lillian whispered hoarsely.

The words remained unspoken but their impact was felt. It was unchartered territory for both of them and more so for Harry.

"It wasn't like last time, that's for sure," Harry said quietly. "Last time was…" he chuckled, "It nearly blinded me and I think we were at it for a much longer time."

"Nearly an hour as compared to what...?" She asked him to check and about fifteen minutes had passed since they awoke which meant the actual sex had lasted a little over five minutes.

"Huh," Harry said, a little surprised. "Felt much longer."

Lillian's stomach grumbled again and they finally decided to take the shower that their bodies needed. They soaped each other, laughing while they did it and eventually dried themselves. Lillian dried herself by heating up her body and Harry just rejected the water clinging to his skin.

Finally they dressed and head down to the great hall, one hunger satisfied and the other making itself known ravenously.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

For a moment, when they stepped into the great hall and saw the hundreds of wizards, children and muggles eating and chatting, they felt like nothing had changed in the past year. They were still reasonably innocent students who were going to the great hall like any other day. Nostalgia filled their senses and they realized how much had actually changed.

"Mary!" Hermione's very recognizable voice pierced through the noise in the great hall and before Lillian could react, a blur of bushy hair slammed into her and hugged her tightly. "We heard what you did! Oh my god, Mary! What the hell were you thinking?!" she scolded, her eyes alight with worry, relief and happiness. "You could have been killed!"

Harry rolled his eyes at the melodrama.

"Why didn't you see us the moment you got back?!" she demanded.

Ron was skulking behind Hermione with an odd expression. He seemed to be pleased and indifferent at Lillian's return. "Good to see you Mary," he said. "You've changed a lot."

Hermione took a step back to examine her friend and realized Ron was right. Lillian had grown taller, she had lost the childish looks that defined children of their age and her eyes had a more mature and powerful feel to them.

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked, horrified at the massive changes.

Harry was standing beside Lillian, but his existence was completely ignored. "I'm going to eat," he said to Lillian. "Are you going to join me or catch up?"

"Come on, Hermione," Lillian said grinning. "A lot can change in a week and apparently I did." She snaked her arm around Hermione's shoulder and dragged her along to the long tables that were loaded with food that wasn't tinned.

It made Lillian and Harry drool.

Hermione's questions turned into a dull buzz and Lillian began to load her plate with relish and Harry bypassed the plates and shoved the delicious steak and beans straight into his mouth.

"My god," Harry moaned. "This is unreal!"

"Yousaidit," Lillian said through a mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Hermione shouted. She wanted to know what happened to Lillian was Lillian was ignoring her completely.

"Let her eat, Hermione," Harry barked. "Its been a long trip and you harassing her for answers is not helping."

Hermione grew indignant but Ron put a hand on her shoulder calming her down. Lillian raised an eyebrow at the display. Now when had that happened? She wondered; Ron calming Hermione down with just a touch? That was even more unreal. Had they really been gone for a couple of weeks?

"We spent most of the time looking for our target, Hermione," Lillian said. "And when we found him, we were smart enough to stay hidden until we completed our mission."

"Which was?" Hermione pressed, unyielding.

"Capture him and find out about their operations," Harry said smoothly. "He's in Croaker's custody now."

Neither Hermione nor Ron believed him for a second. "And what about the vampire king?! The whole castle is talking about it and not to mention Dumbledore returning with monsters that aren't in any books I've ever read!"

"You've read all the books the world has to offer Hermione?" Harry asked laughing. "That's quite the boast, don't you think?"

"That's not what I meant."

"No, it certainly wasn't," Harry retorted.

"Let's not fight please," Ron said softly.

Harry and Lillian exchanged another bemused look at each other. What had gotten into Ron?

"I have to ask," Harry said, "Why is Hermione doing all the questioning and Ron being so meek?"

Hermione's expression turned dull and Ron looked away.

"What?" Lillian asked, now afraid.

Hermione looked at Ron and he just nodded. "We lost Mr. Weasley and Charlie on the Asian front," she said painfully.

"Oh my god; I'm so sorry Ron!"

"This is war, isn't it," he said indifferently. "We're not the only ones to lose family." He got up and slunk away suddenly and Hermione followed him.

"Gloomy," Harry muttered.

"Don't be insensitive," Lillian hissed. "I should go after him."

"Eat and go," Harry said firmly. "We're not going to be here for long, remember that. The war isn't over and Voldemort is not gone. The appearance of the Drakons shifted the power in our favour but you can guarantee the other side is going to get new reinforcements too."

"Depressing," Lillian retorted, not swayed in the slightest. "I'll eat after I talk with Ron. He needs to know I'm there for him."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I really can't bring myself to care."

His words invoked a spike of anger in Lillian but she held it back. "You should try," she said quietly and got up to follow Ron and Hermione.

Harry knew he had made a mistake, but he couldn't help but tell the truth. He really didn't care. He cared about two things. One was Sirius and the other was… it was her and just thinking about it sent jitters of uneasiness through him.

He sighed and mentally thumped the thoughts to the back of his mind. He finished his meal alone and after drinking a glass of grape juice, he made his way to the lake. There were just too many emotions playing checkers in his head and occlumency was needed to clear the board.

As it turned out, he needn't had to worry because all thoughts were silenced when the six foot tall Drakon intercepted him by smashing into the ground a few metres ahead of him. The ground cracked, magic filling the cracks and then it reformed as the light dissipated. The Drakon's body glowed brightly and its wings folded and disappeared into its back.

"Where is your partner?" it thundered as softly as possible. Its voice was too powerful to be soft.

"She's busy consoling some guy," Harry grunted, continuing his walk.

The Drakon got in stride and Harry could feel the magic clashing against him. This was the first time he had felt magic so strong in its ambient form.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked. He extended his own ambient magic to its full power in attempt to measure whether he was capable of subduing this magnificent creature.

"Your nature," the Drakon said. He too flared his magic and Harry could feel its power pushing his magic back with ease. The ring of silver flickered in his eyes as he dug deep into his magical core and increased the strength of his magic.

"My nature?"

"I can see the threads that draw you to darkness. They are strong in you, just as strong as the threads that bind you to our side."

"So?"

"When Evil returns, those threads will pull hard. They will twist your mind and encourage you to change sides. I am here to ensure that doesn't happen."

Harry laughed. "I could care less what you are here to ensure or not ensure," he said. "My threads or whatever the hell you want to call it, are not confused as to which side they fight for."

The Drakon was silent for a moment, but their invisible battle intensified. Its body glowed brighter and passing people stopped and stared at the Elemental and Drakon. Harry summoned his element to full power and viciously stabbed his magic against the Drakon's magic.

He was winning and a barely noticeable sign of strain appeared in the Drakon's feline eyes.

"You are strong," it rumbled. "The more you use more magic, the stronger you get. The growth is extraordinary."

"Thanks," Harry grunted and by mutual consent, not by words but by magic, their short battle was over.

"What do you know about your kind, Harry Potter? This is what I truly wanted to talk to you about. I know you have questions and I have the answers."

Hundreds of thoughts bombarded his senses, all of them wanting to be heard first. Harry decided to go for the one that had been affecting him so deeply this past year.

"The lust for battle," he asked. "Why is it so intense and why does my element like it?"

"The power summoned by the humans was through a dimensional portal that was aimed at finding a power capable of standing above all living magical creatures. Such power is born only through lust for violence, something that is in tune with Evil's belief. Every time you use this power, you lose a part of yourself to this lust. You can either crush this feeling or learn to live with it."

"Will it make me insane?"

"That depends on your own mental strength. Fifty humans bound this magic to their core and twenty nine went mad with the power and had to be put down. You and your partner aren't even close to insanity."

He sniffed in the air and curled his nonexistent lips into something like a smile. "I can smell what you both have been doing to counter the effects of the blood lust."

Harry snorted. "What can't you sense?" he said sarcastically. "Is your nose a mind reader or something?"

"No matter what happens," the Drakon said, ignoring the jibe, "Do not let the darkness in you overpower your righteousness."

Harry rolled his eyes. He was finding this creature to be quite full of shit. "What about you? What sets you so apart from our tendencies to embrace darkness? Why are you the moral authority when you are capable of levelling cities with just a couple of breaths? And what's with this ridiculous way of referring to your side as Good and the other Evil? I mean, isn't it a kind of arrogance to call yourself the forces of _Good?!_ "

Steam rose from the body of the beast with a hiss. Its eyes contracted and magic expanded, but Harry was easily able to stand up to its power. Most his annoyance stemmed from his stupid statement to Lillian, but for some reason he couldn't stand it when this Drakon spoke to him like he was going to be responsible for the destruction of _Good._

"Humans came up with the names," it said. "We called the other side the enemy and nothing more. Humans are an anomaly which resulted in the shift of power. If it weren't for humans, then this world would still be locked in an eternal battle."

"So then why do you distrust us?"

"Because your species cannot be trusted, it's as simple as that. Do you trust all the members of your species unconditionally?"

Harry was silent.

"I thought not. We do not question our existence. We know our purpose and we trust all life created by Good. We exist in harmony and have existed since the end of the first war in peace. Can you say the same for humans?"

"So how did Good and Evil come to exist in the first place?" Harry asked.

"There is one common link between all life," the Drakon said. "Water."

Harry was startled. That was his element.

"All I can tell you is through water - the root for all life, came magic and through magic came two powers whose will to live is unmatched. We are the creations of one of those powers and humans are a result of both. Do not think to hard about it, it's just the way it is."

Harry sighed.

"Do you want to ask me anything else?"

Harry raked through his mind for a moment before reaching a startling question. "You said Evil is like this big black smoke of dark magic right?" he asked slowly.

The Drakon nodded. "It is a being of magic; it has no particular physical form."

"So then where is Good? If it was undefeated then where is it?"

"After Evil took refuge in a dimension of its own making, Good adopted the same method to transfer its consciousness, feelings and power to all life. Good is magic that is all around you. It the magic you channel through your wand and it is the power that induces feelings of love, empathy, forgiveness, happiness. In contrast Evil is what inspires greed, violence, destruction, murder, the list goes on. The mode of battle changed after Evil's defeat. Humans were now the means to victory and in a sense you could say both sides were trying to influence them. The difference was Evil used the last threads of its power to create something that could corrupt and convert the magic of a human allowing it to steal it and power itself."

Harry absorbed the words and dissected them. "So we are pawns," Harry said acidly.

"To Evil you are," the Drakon replied immediately.

Silence relapsed and Harry stared at the seemingly endless stretch of water of the lake.

"I refuse to believe it," Harry said after a while.

"What?"

"We are not pawns or tools. We are not an accident of two insane sides that have a single track mind. We were born into existence to end your mindless war and build a world based on the entire spectrum of emotions. Are you telling me that you can feel only emotions of kindness, love, happiness and all that horseshit? You enjoy killing just as much as what we call Evil. You get angry when I oppose you and you said it yourself, you hate humans. Isn't hate an emotion, _ahem_ , in tune with Evil?"

"You do not have a clue about what goes on in our souls," the Drakon said.

"And I don't want to know," Harry retorted. "Let's make this simple. You are here to help us defeat your enemy. Lillian and I are the elements that can help you win this war. You need us just as much as we need you, so stop disrespecting my kind and have the courage to return the respect we have for you."

The Drakon's furious eyes were crackling with power. But it didn't attack and instead its wings erupted out of its back and it rocketed into the sky before disappearing in a burst of magic.

"Good and Evil," Harry scoffed. "What a load of crap."

A burden had been lifted from Harry's shoulders. He had wanted to say this for a long time and saying it to the Drakon gave him a sense of calm. He felt more at ease and his mind was free of the doubts about the past and his role in the present.

There was no good or evil. There was just power and three sides vying for the most of it.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **Several hours later**

Harry's talk with the Drakon had made him realize something else as well. He had to get reduce his tendency of being cold hearted and indifferent to the pain of others; at least to the pain and suffering of those who revolved around the people he cared about.

He enjoyed being with Lillian. He liked it and he didn't want to lose the relationship because of the wall he had built around his heart. His past with the Dursley's had damaged him but he was finally ready to move on and forget the injustice of the past. There were friends to be made and bonds to be formed. He was not going to let the hate that the Dursley's had pounded him with during his childhood guide his heart anymore. Sirius was the first to crack that wall and Lillian was slowly filling it. It was time to throw away the shackles of his past and embrace the future.

With that thought in mind, he made his way to the Gryffindor tower and searched for Lillian and her friends.

He found them by the fireplace. It wasn't just Lillian, Hermione and Ron. All the Weasley's, Blaise and even Draco sat there, in the cosy room. Orange light was streaming through the open windows as the sun set and warmth was being radiated from the fireplace.

Dozens of teenagers he didn't recognize were there too, talking and joking with the students of Hogwarts. Harry summoned his courage and joined the group.

They were surprised to see him.

"Harry!" Lillian said. "I've been looking for you all over the castle. Where did you disappear?"

"I was talking with the Drakon," Harry replied.

Silence befell the common room. Hundreds of eyes filled with awe and excitement looked to him, hoping for an elaboration.

"You alright there, Harry?" Blaise asked smiling. Draco and he were playing a game of chess and the winner got to challenge Ron.

"I'm good," Harry replied. "You guys holding up okay?"

"Potter was talking with the Drakon," someone whispered in awe. The whisper was loud enough to travel the length of the room and muttering broke out.

"Anyway," Harry said uncomfortably. "I came here to talk to Ron and you guys as well," he said, making eye contact with all the Weasley children. "I'm very sorry for your loss and if there's anything I can do… just… I mean… well, say it."

Ginny responded immediately. "It means a lot coming from you Harry," she said, smiling. "Thank you so much!"

"Yeah," George mumbled and a host of weak smiles and words of acknowledgement greeted him.

Harry wanted to roll his eyes and say something sarcastic at the over flow of sappy emotion but he held himself back and fixed a polite smile on his face. "I know you guys must be having a hard time and we will avenge your family's loss and everyone else's as well," he said.

"I know we will," Ron said. "Say, do you want to join us?"

"Na, I got to find Dumbledore," Harry said, declining the offer.

Lillian was staring at him, mouth open, throughout his short conversation. Her mind had short circuited the moment he offered his condolences to the Weasley's. She couldn't believe Harry had brought himself to do that and she was feeling an unbelievable amount of shock and happiness as well.

"But damn Potter," George said suddenly, grinning. "Both you and Mary have aged a couple of years in a week! What the hell did you guys do?! Was the mission inside a freaking time machine?"

Harry laughed. "Couldn't tell you," he said shrugging. "It's a mystery to us as well. Anyway, I'll see you guys around."

He turned and left.

Lillian cursed and scrambled to her feet. "Wait up!" she shouted, running after him. She caught up to him on the other side of the Fat Lady and stood on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "That was for…"

"I know what it was for," Harry interrupted. He didn't want to hear her say the words but the smile that grew on his face after her kiss was difficult to remove.

"Why?" she asked instead, keeping pace with him as they walked towards the headmaster's office. She wanted to know the reason.

"Something the Drakon said," Harry mumbled.

Lillian looked at him expectantly, waiting for an elaboration.

Harry sighed. "They don't trust us. They don't respect us because we don't even respect our own kind. He was worried about me turning against them and he gave me some bullshit about how things went down in the past."

"So what changed?" Lillian asked. It wasn't like this was something new that they had never known. What was it that made Harry change?

Harry heaved another sigh. "I grew up distrusting everything and everyone around me except for magic. I figured it was time to change that."

"Corny," Lillian commented grinning.

"Shut up," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "What have you been doing all day?"

"Answering thousands of questions mostly," she said. "The most taxing round was when Sarah cornered me and quizzed me about our roll in the hay."

Harry raised his eyebrows in interest. "And?"

Lillian blushed. "She was very impressed and envious. She also had a lot of advice to give as well."

"Heh."

"She was stunned by our timings; especially yours."

"We're gods among mortals, Freckles," Harry joked, adopting a deep and superior tone. "Any advice you want to share with me?"

"Well, _Mr. God_ ," Lillian retorted sarcastically, "You might want to keep it in your pants for now. We're here."

"Harry Potter and Lillian Austin, here to see Albus Dumbledore," Harry said to the Gargoyles. The gargoyles jumped aside, revealing the moving spiral staircase.

Harry didn't bother knocking and twisted the door knob open. Oddly the office was empty but another door was open on the other side and they walked through it into a room that was way out of character to be in Hogwarts.

Casey, Sarah, Dumbledore and more muggles in uniform were inside and they were surrounded by large flat screens, computers and wires linked to devices they had never seen before. It was a surveillance room and the elementals were stunned to find such a room in a castle saturated with magic.

"Harry, Lillian!" Dumbledore said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"What's going on?" Lillian asked.

 _"Ground teams waiting for you command General,"_ voices crackled over through speakers attached around the room.

 _"The word of the hour is Trident,"_ Casey said tersely into his microphone.

Harry looked closely at the monitors and realized they were satellite images of all the cities that Voldemort had remodelled. There was one Drakon with every team of muggles and wizards and they were armed to the teeth, ready to reoccupy the world.

It was breathtaking - the moment when every Drakon on screen took a deep breath and spewed a column of magic so powerful that the wards protecting the magical cities were destroyed in an instant. Hundreds of soldiers, armed with weapons created by the formerly known as - Department of Mysteries streamed in through the gates of the cities. Every city had a magnificent entrance gate even if there were no walls around it. Their walls were the wards and now the wards were gone.

"Hey Professor," Harry whispered, getting close to Dumbledore.

"Yes?"

"What about all those people living in those cities? There's got to be thousands of them!"

"Hundreds of thousands Harry," Dumbledore murmured. "We're going to keep them confined to the city for now. There's no place where we can hold them prisoner."

"Where did they all come from? How come they never sided with us?"

"It was the Order of the Phoenix which was fighting the war with the little too late support of the Ministry," Dumbledore replied. "One percent of the magical population is what we are Harry."

"Damn," Harry whispered. "What are we going to do with all those traitors?"

"Nothing for now. Look closely, no one inside the cities is even putting up a fight."

Dumbledore was right. As the armies of the Resistance poured into Voldemort's cities, there were dozens of wizards waving white flags in surrender. No one was even trying to oppose them. There were no signs of the Werewolves, Vampires, Dementors or the hybrids that Voldemort was breeding. The dark army had gone into hiding abandoning the citizens they had recruited to populate their cities.

"I spoke with the Drakon by the way," Harry added, a little annoyance creeping into his voice.

Dumbledore smiled. "They were worried about your wand primarily," he said. "Apparently, since it is a creation of Evil, only someone capable of being a vessel can be the master of it."

Harry scoffed.

"I told them their worries were baseless and they shouldn't suspect you of being anything but a force for righteousness."

"They didn't believe you," Harry said. "Bunch of pricks the lot of them. They could have ended this madness centuries ago if only they had the balls to do it."

Dumbledore clucked his tongue in disapproval of the language. "I saw their realm Harry," he said. "I have never seen such a world of peace and beauty. It was truly magnificent."

A few feet away, Lillian was apologizing to Chuck.

"How could you not even use the weapons even once!" he was saying, feeling crushed at the dismissal of his awesome hand guns. "The entire army is now equipped with various models of it!"

Lillian curled her fingers into the shape of a gun. "This hand is a hundred times more powerful than any weapon you could arm me with," she said haughtily.

Sarah sniggered at Chuck's crestfallen expression.

"Will you morons keep it down?!" Casey snapped loudly. "We're in the middle of an operation here. Either keep it down or leave!"

"So where are they?" Chuck asked sourly.

"After the first day, they just felt uncomfortable and annoying so we stashed them in our backpacks. But they sure are awesome."

"How awesome could they be if you forgot about their existence," Chuck grumbled. "The others loved it."

"Stop whining Chuck," Sarah said, rubbing salt into his wounded pride. "Science isn't everything for some people."

"Magic is powering every piece of equipment in this room, Sarah," he retorted. "How do you think we accomplished that?!"

 _"Zone one is clear,"_ a voice crackled over the radio. The army was securing the cities in parts, leaving behind a small squadron at every zone. The Drakons were standing outside the city while the humans swarmed inside.

Harry and Dumbledore continued their conversation in the midst of military codes and commands.

"Imagine this tree," Dumbledore whispered. "This gargantuan tree, the size of an entire city, rising into the sky beyond the clouds and its branches moulded into homes. This endless tree that is home to thousands of elves, who live in this tree without the slightest worry about anything bad and harmful to them."

"Sounds perfect," Harry drawled, not really interested.

"It was, it _is_ perfect Harry," Dumbledore breathed, his eyes shining with wonder. "They exist without conflict. They can't even comprehend turning on each other," he said. "The Elves live above the ground. The Dwarves live under the ground among another mind bending network of roots and Earth. There was an ocean around this tree and these creatures of water, called Neytons lived in the ocean. All of them coexist with harmony binding them together. It made me realize what harmful beings humans really are."

"Not you too," Harry groaned. "Perfect means there is no room for growth professor! I thought you'd know that! They are a stagnated race who, I'm pretty sure haven't changed a bit since they were created. As far as I'm concerned they're a bunch of flaccid dicks."

"Your language seems to have taken a hit since I left," Dumbledore said. "But don't judge them based on the Drakon alone," he said knowingly. "The Drakons are the guardians of their realm. They are the power created to protect every life that lives behind those gates. Each species that lives in that realm has a role. The Elves are masters at healing. The Dwarves can forge any stone, any metal into a tool that will last for eternity. The Drakons are the guards and the Neytons are the providers."

"Providers?"

"That's what they told me. The can and will provide anything the realm needs."

Harry sighed. "Well you can have wet dreams about that realm. What about the whereabouts of Voldemort? That should be more important right now. If we can kill him now, then we can systematically eviscerate any means for Evil to come back."

Dumbledore hesitated in his reply and Harry's eyes widened. "They _want_ it to come back!" he exclaimed. "That's why the Drakon was interrogating me. They want to know whether I'm up to the task!" he shouted furiously.

"They have a compass," Dumbledore said softly. "It measures the chances of Evil returning and lately it's been fluctuating a lot."

Harry dug his hands into his pocket and removed the compass given to him by Flamel. He threw it and Dumbledore with betrayal in his eyes. "Something like that? It's at seventy percent now," he hissed. "I check it every single day."

"Before you direct all your anger towards me, you should know that I vetoed their plan immediately."

Harry's mouth shut abruptly and he looked at Dumbledore in confusion. "You are not a pawn Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "I would never let anyone treat you that way. I am on your side so please don't forget that."

"Sorry," Harry apologized, feeling all the anger leave his body in a rush. "It's just that that Drakon really got under my skin."

"It's his duty to ensure nothing can turn against our side. Humans let them down in the past and they don't want to see it happening again," Dumbledore said.

 _"City has been captured,"_ several voices crackled over the radio one after the other.

The muggles monitoring the drones and satellites cheered wildly.

" _No resistance from the enemy?"_ Casey questioned.

" _None at all. They had white flags ready."_

Casey was worried and he wasn't the only one. "We have to find Voldemort," he growled. " _No one leaves the city until we dose every last one of them with truth serum,"_ he barked into the radio.

 _"Roger that."_

"I hope Croaker is ready," Casey said.

"He'll show himself when he is," Dumbledore said calmly.

Casey grumbled under his breath. "Chuck!" he barked. "Any luck on Voldemort's hideout?"

Chuck shook his head, "No General. We're scouring every part of the globe but so far we got nothing except nuclear wastelands."

The General clicked on a switch on the radio panel connecting him to Sirius, who was in New York, the magical version. " _Any hits on the atmosphere machine, Black?"_ he asked.

" _We found it but it's a complex runic structure,"_ Sirius replied. _"Moody, Bill and I are working on duplicating it."_

" _Keep me posted,"_ Casey said.

The entire operation had taken less than two hours.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Midnight - The Forbidden forest**

"The Hummingdinger hums away, bringing humming hummers here, all the way the hum and sing, the Hummingdinger song. Their voices are invisible, visible to those who hear, the Hummingdinger song. Snorkacks, Snorkack, Snorkacks love the humming song, they sneak and crawl to the humming song, oh where, oh where, oh where."

The spectre of the Witch Queen Nefertari, a pale green distorted ghostly appearance of the former queen, was attracted to this strange language. The voice belonged to a human, a powerful human that was a compatible host, it though excitedly. How long had she been floating around looking for a vessel capable of hosting her spirit! She floated closer to the soft singing and observed a young girl plucking mushrooms from the foot of a tree.

She had long blonde hair, nearly touching the back of her knees. She was thin and frail looking with mysterious grey eyes that were suddenly looking at the creepy visage of the spectre. Those eyes, brimming with hidden power called out to the female spectre and with a screech, it shot itself into the body of her new host.

What the Witch Queen expected to happen was not even close to what actually happened. The spectre had expected an easy grasp on the young girl's soul. She had expected to crush it and take over the lovely body to once again assert her dominance on the world of men but instead she was assaulted by images and sounds in the millions.

Two shrill screaming voices mixed and tore from the young girls vocal cords and one soul was almost instantly taken over by the other.

Luna Lovegood blinked as her blurry world turned razor sharp and for the first time since her mother's soul departed the world, she was able to think and see clearly. She could differentiate between every dimension that her eyes were able to watch and more frighteningly, the soul, personality and power of the Witch Queen was absorbed by her own soul.

Strength of a different kind rushed through her veins and her grey eyes glowed eerie green. Her mind dissected every dimension she could look through and she found the answer to the most important question in the world.

"Snorkacks are in Canada!" she exclaimed in delight.


	59. Part 2 - Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - The End Is Here.**

A grape smacked Harry on the side of his head and he ignored it, fully engrossed in the book he was reading.

He was sitting on the bed of his godfathers room while the rest of the resistance were attending a meeting. Harry had pointedly refused to go, siting boredom and boredom.

Another grape plonked him on his cheek and he continued reading, indifferent to the flying edible projectiles.

A well aimed throw by Lillian hit him on the nose and Harry's eye twitched. The fiery elemental was sprawled on the sofa, her long legs dangling off the edge and a bowl of grapes balanced between her breasts. She was wearing a purple and white checked shirt and denim shorts with a terribly amused expression to match her clothes.

She was being ignored in favour of a book and there were at least twenty grapes lying all around the topless Harry. He was wearing just boxers, was propped up against the back of the bed with a thick tome balanced on his drawn up legs.

Lillian frowned and then taking careful aim, she tossed another grape which smacked him on the nose yet again. She smirked when she noticed his jaws tighten. Good, she thought. He was getting pissed. A few days back Harry had claimed that thanks to his occlumency, he had unending patience and nothing could get him to loose his temper. Lillian declared it her mission to prove him wrong but after four days of needling and prodding, not once did his temper rise to levels of loosing control.

Until now of course.

It should have occurred to her sooner that he hated being disturbed while reading. So she very sweetly gifted him The Lord of the Rings seeing that they were now living with dwarfs, elves and vain dragons and true to her plot, he was engrossed in it within seconds and now her grapes were soaring with glee at his face.

"Freckles?" Harry called calmly when a grape broke against his forehead and leaked juice over his face.

"Yes Harry?" she replied, trying to suppress her laughter and almost failing.

"I'm going to bury you in grapes if you don't stop that," he said as a matter of fact.

Lillian responded by lobbing a grape and watched it bounce of his head. "Are you getting angry Iceman?" she mocked.

"Not at all," he said smoothly, eyes never straying from the book. Frodo was leaving the shire and the Nazguls were on the way. Harry simply had to know what happens next and his girlfriend who gave him the book was _really_ pushing his buttons at the moment.

A grape landed on the para he was on and automatically his head turned sharply and he levelled a fierce glare at Lillian, his temper rising. He so badly wanted to yell at her to cut it out but he held his tongue when she smirked, clearly waiting for him to prove her right and he took a deep calming breath and shut the book.

"Just to be clear," he said carefully. "This is not me loosing my temper." And with that he launched himself at her.

Lillian's eyes widened and she didn't have time to react. A second later Harry was on top of her tickling her mercilessly.

"Stop!" she squealed, laughing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry! Stop!" She tried to kick out and push him away but he was heavy and she was laughing too hard.

The bowl of grapes clattered to the floor and a moment later, after a thrust of her hips both the teenagers tumbled to the floor as well allowing Lillian to grab his hands and fight back.

Her eyes were alive with delight and Harry was grinning broadly as well while the wrestled on the ground, each trying to trap the other under them.

"Throw grapes at me will you?" he growled and then grabbed a few and proceeded to crush them in her hair.

"Not my hair arsehole!" Lillian shouted furiously.

"Take that!" Harry yelled exuberantly and got off of her oozing smugness and triumph. His smile faded when he noticed Lillian quivering with rage.

"Do you know long it took me to set my hair," she said, her voice low and furious. "Do you know how difficult it is to hold you wand behind your head to get the right colours and sleekness?"

"It's just hair," Harry protested, grinning weakly. "And you started it," he added accusingly.

He didn't have time to stop the missile that was his girlfriend from rocketing into his stomach knocking him onto the floor.

"Uff!" he gasped and the next moment grapes were being smeared all over his face and chest.

"Take that!" Lillian shouted, but she was laughing and so was Harry. His laughter changed to horror when she shoved a grape filled hand into his boxers.

"Freckles, you freak!" he exclaimed and kicked out in reflex but Lillian silenced his protests with a passionate kiss and that was how Sarah found them.

Grapes all over the floor, grapes all over two kissing teenagers and one of them had their hands in the others shorts.

The sound of the door opening alerted Harry and Lillian and they sprang away from each other quickly. Lillian blushed brightly when she spotted Sarah and Harry couldn't keep the grin off his face.

"As amusing as this is," Sarah said dryly. "You're needed in the conference room." Her eyes flickered to Lillian's unbuttoned shirt and the tent in Harry's boxers and she smirked. "Do you want me to leave while you get dressed or have you two become exhibitionists already?"

"We'll be out in five minutes!" Lillian squeaked and pushed Sarah out.

"Next time lock the door and for gods sake do it in your own rooms. Imagine if Sirius came instead of me."

Harry paled at the thought. "I'll make sure to control Freckles next time," he said slyly.

Lillian shut the door and glared at Harry. "You're not as attractive as you'd like to think you are Potter," she grumbled. "I'm not the one with the tent in my pants."

Harry looked down between his legs and came close to blushing, remembering the glance from Sarah. He was an ice elemental after all and instead of turning red, he had a tendency of turning blue. "Lets get dressed," he mumbled and summoned his clothes.

Five minutes later they were out and Sarah took them to the briefing room or the war room as Lillian called it. Before it was simply the headmasters office.

The ten minutes that it took to walk from the first floor rooms to the headmaster office took a lot of effort from Sarah not to snap. Harry and Lillian were arguing about Harry's control over his temper.

"I didn't lose my temper," Harry said dismissing Lillian's claim.

"And I'm telling you did," she retorted. "Instead of blowing up and yelling you tackled me to the ground and tortured me. How is that not loosing your temper?"

"I tickled you," argued Harry. "It was a playful thing. Not a malicious one."

"Clearly you don't know what tickling does to a very ticklish person," she said darkly. "You channeled your temper in a different way is all that happened," she said. "You smartly lost your temper."

"Smartly lost my temper?" Harry said sarcastically. "What for Morgana's sake does that even mean?"

"You can swear by Morgana's tits too if you want. You can't deny the fact that you smartly channeled your temper into something that is supposed to playful with malicious intentions. You intended to make me laugh until I cried or begged for mercy. Words that a tortured victim would say to her captor. Now how can you say you didn't lose your temper?"

Harry opened and closed his mouth, at a loss for words for a moment before he started to think fast.

Sarah, under her breath, mouthed to herself, _Morgana's sake? Morgana's tits?_ she was completely perplexed.

"You are taking the intent to tickle way to far," Harry said. "Any intention to tickle will come with a sinister motive yes. But that is true for any person and the intentions are simliar to the sinister intent of a cute one year old toddler stealing a fluffy toy from another cute toddler."

Lillian gaped. "Steal? Cute?"

"My point is that I didn't lose my temper at you. My actions were controlled and losing ones temper would indicate said person is angrily _out of control_."

Lillian shook her head vehemently. "Hence my line about you smartly losing your temper. You channeled your anger which was going out of control into a direction that would hurt me the most without seeming hurtful. You tried to deceive me into believing that you hadn't lost your temper when you clearly did, you manipulative bastard."

" _I'm manipulative?!_ Which psycho planned to give me a book and trick me into making a bet about my temper?" Harry demanded.

"You really want to go there?" Lillian retorted heatedly. "Do you really want me to dig up all the manipulative stunts you've pulled?"

Harry was ready to lose his temper this time around and neither of the two seemed to realise it was actually happening this time. Harry was losing his temper over not losing a bet about losing his temper.

"I'm curious," interrupted Sarah with all the sarcasm she could muster. "How does all this lead to Lillian shoving her hand between your legs?"

Harry and Lillian were stunned into silence and then a mischievous smirk grew on Harry's face. "We're very spontaneous," he said.

"Extremely," Lillian chimed in, grinning.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "We're here," she announced. "The people upstairs are seriously fighting a war so keep the amusing arguments to yourself until the meeting is over."

"They're taking this way to seriously," Harry snorted. "we've practically won."

"Voldemort and his cohorts are still out there," Sarah said severely. "People are still dying and apparently there is an epic final battle to come which will decide our fate. You two could take this a little more seriously."

Over the past six months Lillian and Harry had become somewhat reckless and dominant in their behaviours. People were not sure if it was Harry's influence on Lillian or Lillian's influence on Harry that was resulting in the changing personalities. Lillian was becoming more bloody minded and Harry was becoming more open. And when the two were together they were bloody minded, sometimes cold, sometimes relaxed and sometimes they confused everyone around them with their odd discussion.

Sirius personally thought it was all the sex causing the changes. Lillian had hexed him when he said it out loud during a dressing down from Mrs Weasley in front of half the occupants of the Gryffindor common room after she saw Harry and Lillian lazily kissing each other in one corner. She was of the opinion they were too young so they listened patiently and then went back to kissing when she was done.

"What took so long?" General Casey asked irritably. "You left twenty minutes ago."

The complete office was now heavily modified huge room, with dozens of computers behind which a number of muggle soldiers were working. A couple of massive flat screens were attached to the other end of the room and in one corner a large table around which sat the leaders of the Resistance.

"Why do you smell like grapes?" Sirius muttered sniffing at his godson curiously as Harry took a seat next to him.

"It's a big castle Casey," Sarah said dryly.

The General grumbled under his breath and sitting beside him, Dumbledore smiled at the two elementals.

"Please tell me this is important," Harry said gruffly, ignoring the question. It would take too long to explain. "We were busy."

Sitting beside Lillian, Sarah coughed loudly and it suspiciously sounded like sex.

"Chuck believes he has found Voldemort's lair," Dumbledore said politely.

Harry snapped to attention. Had the time come finally?

"Where is it?"

"Not in a place we'd have imagined, that's for sure," said Chuck. He rolled open a large map on the table and put his finger on Canada.

"No seriously. Where is he?" Lillian asked.

"Canada Ms. Austin," Casey said. "Chuck's finger is on it."

Lillian didn't believe him and by the look on Harry's face, he didn't too.

Chuck sighed. He had another round of explaining to do. It had taken him forever to make the other wizards understand.

"Our satellites have been scouring the Earth for any signs of Voldemort and his armies ever since he disappeared. Now magic tends to cause anomalies in our instruments and the proof of that is every time we sweep over a place said to be magical, the coordinates flicker like they're confused. It's really weird. But when it sweeps over magical places that have been made undetectable, those coordinates are just skipped like they don't exist in the first place."

"Aah," Harry said in understanding. "But undetectable magical places are quite common. Who knows over the centuries how many places have been warded like nuclear bunkers."

"We thought that too," Chuck said immediately. "So we began to catalogue and we found many such places where the coordinates skipped and we investigated. Almost all the sites were accounted for and most were around religious places. Except for the largest coordinate skip located around North West Canada, a harsh region where we've lost ten scouts and three drones."

The atmosphere in the room began to shift. A more solemn and anticipatory mood over took the light humour. Everyone could sense it. They could almost see the end in their sights.

"How do we do this?" Harry asked quietly, staring at the map, his mind strangely numb and excited.

"Three part assault after we verify the location and this is where you two come in," Casey said. "Potter, Austin and Dumbledore are going to go in while our ground units will gather at a safe distance away until we get the green light."

Sirius gasped. As did Arthur and Tonks.

"You can't be serious," Remus said, his eyes narrowed. "We don't know what we're up against. What if something happens?"

"We will accompany the young ones," the so far silent Drakon boomed. Beside him there were two other creatures Harry hadn't noticed in the dim light. His eyes widened dramatically when he realised what they were.

"Lillian look," he said in softly, nodding in the direction of the royalty of the Elvish and Dwarf kingdoms.

Lillian gasped when she noticed.

The Dwarf had a pale handsome and rugged face. He barely reached over the table and looked to be maybe five feet tall. His dark red hair fell over his face in waves and had a strange shine to it. His eyes were coal black and they radiated with a sense of deep power.

The Elf was slightly darker and had almost sharp alien features compared to the more human looks of the Dwarf. High cheek bones with skin tightly stretched over his bones coupled with bronzed skin gave him a very seductive appeal. His light blue eyes were sharp and Lillian almost felt like simply sitting next to him and basking in the aura of peace and bliss that exuded out of him.

"Why aren't they wearing a wreath of flowers?" Harry asked her, breaking the moment that had been filled with awe.

"That's just in Tolkien's book Harry. Don't act stupid, it doesn't become you."

Harry scowled. Clearly she was still annoyed over the temper thing.

"Attention towards me!" barked Casey. "We're on the brink of battle goddammit."

The idea of infiltrating the potential hideout of the Evil forces scared those not on the front lines a lot more than it worried the two elementals and the most powerful wizard in the world.

"When do we leave?" Lillian asked.

From the another part of the table her father just sighed in resignation. He had come to terms with the sudden growth and change in his precious daughter. He looked at her relaxed posture that oozed power and confidence and smiled. She was more like her mother than him. Elise would be bursting with pride if she was here now, he thought sadly and took solace in the fact that she was probably gleefully watching her daughter's exploits from the other side of the veil.

"Five days," Casey said. "It will take us some time to position the troops and we can be sure that Voldemort is going to see us coming. If this location is truly Voldemort then this is our end game. This time no running in the corners. This time we run right through the middle and using every tactical manoeuvre in our minds, we are going to destroy this mother fucker who has raped our world with all the brutality in his twisted black heart. He's probably holed up in a sewer of sludge inventing another plan, building a more dangerous army, plotting our demise thinking we're going to be happy to sit and wait for him to make an appearance."

His passionate voice had everyone captivated and holding their breaths. Sometime during his sudden burst, he had stood up and was glaring at everyone, his eyes fiery with the thirst for revenge.

"But in five days Harry, Lillian, Albus and fucking Dragons are going to be the strongest frontline in our army. Airforce will be on standby and ground troops are going to converge on the location armed with the latest weapons courtesy the Department of badass weapons."

Chuck flushed with pride and Croaker cracked a smile for the first time in thirty years. He too was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

His voice dropped an octave. "And when our front line gives us the green light, we're going to pulverise this so called _evil army._ "

Everyone in the room couldn't help themselves. They broke out in loud cheers and whistles. Their hearts were bursting with the vision of winning the battle for Earth. Harry was clapping lightly and grinning while Sirius cheered loudly and Lillian had her fingers in her mouth, whistling crazily.

Casey banged his hand on the table and everyone shut up in an instant.

"Five days," he growled. "Everyone get to work and Elementals..."

Lillian perked up and Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I hope the training you've been doing for the last six months has had results."

Apart from the boredom they suffered with most of the times, Harry and Lillian had been duelling with Drakons. Their powers were growing at exponential rates as was their skill and teamwork under heavy fire. Two weeks ago they had taken on ten Drakons in the wasteland that was Central Europe and had ended the duel with mild bruising.

The Drakons took a week to recover.

Harry smirked darkly at the General and all the people in the room suddenly felt very wary. They had seen exactly what the Elementals had become. It was the power to single handedly destroy great armies. Some people in the room even wondered if their involvement in the battle was going to amount to anything with the power of their front line.

Lillian noticed their expressions and shook her head smiling dryly. If Evil was reborn, she knew, from what the Flamels and the Drakons had said, even their complete strength might not be enough. Voldemort didn't stand a chance but the being lurking behind his eyes was a far greater danger than any of them realised.

She giggled quietly, feeling a thrill for that battle tingle her nerves with anticipation.

Sarah frowned beside her and was a little disturbed by the expression on Lillian's face. But it was gone in an instant and Sarah couldn't help but wonder if they were truly in control of their elements. It seemed like their powers thrived on powerful emotions, she had noticed and she felt worry for their sanity.

Filled with a sudden burst of emotion Sarah wrapped her arm around Lillian's shoulders and dragged her close. She smiled brightly at her and Lillian grinned back. Sarah had an infectious smile.

"What say we drop by the Gryffindor common room and see what your friends are up to."

The people began to disperse, getting back to their stations to prepare for the global scale assault while Sarah and Lillian headed towards the common room, Harry and Sirius close behind as they chatted quietly.

Sarah wondered if they would ever be so carefree and truly alive after the beginning of day five.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

To their surprise they found almost half of their Hogwarts friends and acquaintances inside. As usual sitting near the fireplace were Neville, Ron and Hermione. They were discussing serious things in low voices and Draco and Blaise were sitting right beside them without provoking any confrontations.

"When did that happen?" Harry muttered to Lillian. Your friends and mine getting along?" It seemed to have slipped his mind that this was a common occurrence now.

Lillian didn't reply, rather with a shocked expression she pointed at Hermione's hand. "When did _that_ happen?!" she gasped.

Harry followed her line of sight and then his brain froze. Hermione, sitting on the floor, holding hands with Draco, who was lightly rubbing his thumb over her hand.

"Surprised?" Sirius said chuckling. "Happened about a week ago while you two were busy fighting Drakons."

Lillian suddenly felt guilty and a little bit jealous as well. Where had her friends gone? She didn't even know what was happening in their lives. And they seemed to have not missed her too. Looking at their childish faces Lillian realised it was her that had changed so drastically.

Forcing a bright smile on her face she walked towards the group with her eyes fixed on the intwined hands.

"Mary!" gasped Hermione happily. "You're back!"

"Hey guys," she said and Harry raised his hand to them giving a small smile.

Draco and Blaise looked up from their game for a moment and gave a small wave before getting back into their game. The winner got to play with Ron and Harry experienced a vague sense of déjà vu.

Harry noticed Draco's hand slip out of Hermione's hand subtly and he smirked at said girl who just blushed under his stare.

"I thought you and Ron were dating?" Lillian asked Hermione, her eyebrows arched.

"Broke up," Ron grunted quietly, his ears a lovely shade of red. "I'm with Hannah now."

Harry held back the laughter threatened to burst out. It appeared that his and Lillian's relationship and inspired a lot of teenagers positively. The last 'moments on Earth' was becoming a fairly common statement among the boys nowadays, he thought laughing silently.

"Hey Harry," Blaise said suddenly. "That girl, Lovegood was looking for you," he said.

Harry stilled.

"What did she want?" Lillian asked warily. She had not forgotten about the girls fateful appearance all those years ago. Her thought process came to a jarring halt the next moment. It had been months not years she realised! It certainly felt like years to her.

"Nothing important," said Ron with a shrug. "She said she missed you is all, Harry I mean." Ron paused as he suddenly realised something and his eyes widened.

To Lillian's surprise Harry paled and her eyes narrowed. Her girlfriend senses were tingling, they were telling her sometime was wrong and it was something Harry hadn't told her.

"What is it?" she asked him suspiciously.

"It's nothing," Harry said dismissively. He had regained his wits and smiled at her charmingly.

Around him, everyone was staring with wide eyes filled with the same accusation. Blaise decided to voice them.

"Are you and Luna...?" he asked, his voice training off meaningfully and suggestively.

"What?!" Harry exclaimed. "No! God, you morons have a one track mind."

Lillian snorted at Blaise's words and at the same time as Harry she muttered sarcastically, "Oh please." The thought that Harry seeing someone else behind her back was ludicrous however for some reason she was still feeling the burn of jealousy. She knew it was ridiculous but she was feeling it nonetheless.

"You think I couldn't woo some else besides you?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

"You didn't and don't _woo_ me! Lillian replied hotly and then she paused. "You manipulative bastard!" she snapped. "Don't try and change the subject. What's this about Luna missing you?"

"You're taking this way to seriously," said Harry warily. "It's really nothing. I just met her once while roaming the castle and we just talked."

"You're not saying the right things mate," Draco whispered sympathetically. "You might want to start explaining in detail before your girl blows the castle to smithereens."

Harry growled under his breath. He was beginning to get annoyed. Part of his annoyance stemmed from remembrance of that coincidental meeting with Luna.

"Well?" Lillian asked, tapping her foot impatiently. She never liked Luna. The girl was a different brand of crazy. Lillian snapped at her jealous mind to keep quiet. Luna was a nice girl, she said to herself and she bloody hoped Harry would start talking and explain so that her traitorous mind would shut the hell up.

"Let's talk alone shall we," Harry said with a pointed glance at the eager faces around them, including Sarah and Sirius. Everyone loved drama. Especially when it was some else providing the entertainment.

"Oh," Lillian said arching an eyebrow. "Embarrassing story is it?"

Harry pinched the top of his nose irritably. "If you remember clearly what happened the first time we met her then you should understand that this encounter was no less strange."

Lillian's confrontational approach dropped and she smiled at him sheepishly and a little guiltily as well. "Sorry," she apologised. "I don't know what came over me."

"You're just territorial," Sarah said kindly. "Woman don't like it when other women meet their boyfriends alone, in an abandoned corridor, probably at night and then tell an acquaintance to pass along a message to said boyfriend. You have no reason to be suspicious even though he hid the story from you. I'm sure there's a good explanation for all this," she said smirking at Harry. She was enjoying this way too much.

Lillian adopted a suspicious look again and Harry rolled his eyes exasperatedly. He grabbed Lillian's arm and dragged her out of the common room. "Stop letting those morons put stupid thoughts in your head for Merlin's sake!"

Harry thought he saw Sarah reach for her concealed weapon when he said moron and he quickly left with Lillian.

At a reasonable distance from the common room Lillian slowed down their pace and whacked him on the shoulder.

"Ow," Harry deadpanned. "Can I ask what was that for?"

"Why didn't you tell me about meeting Luna again. I'd liked to have known what she said this time around."

"Let's just get to my mermaid room," Harry muttered. "I'm going to need to be sitting to recount that headache."

"Did you kiss?"

"Freckles," Harry said meaningfully.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "It was just a surprise to hear it. This is the first time I'm experiencing a situation where my boyfriend met another girl and didn't tell me. It's a little disconcerting," she said honestly. She paused as a random thought drifted past her mind and she laughed. "Now I think I know why sometimes woman get overly jealous and possessive. It really is a strange feeling," she said chuckling.

They reached mermaid room and this time Lillian gave the young mermaid a chaste kiss on the lip.

Harry grinned and Ariel the mermaid giggled more than necessary. Lillian just rolled her eyes and entered the room Harry had found all those years ago as a little first year.

Hedwig was there, fluttering about with five little snowy white owls trailing behind her. On the window sill another regal and larger snowy owl stood, watching the little owls with a proud expression.

The sight was so bizarre as Hedwig taught her hatchlings how to perform a series of acrobatic move that Harry and Lillian burst out laughing.

Hedwig noticed her audience and she swooped towards Harry, her little owls following her and she gave him a good cuff on his head with her wing before soaring out of the window.

"What the hell?!" Harry gasped. The little owls being too small to cuff him like Hedwig settled for bouncing off his head and flying out the window. The male owl took flight after all the little owls left.

"That was hilarious," Lillian chuckled. "What did you do to piss her off and when did Mr. Hedwig arrive to plough Mrs. Hedwig's fields?"

"You can be so crude sometimes," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "She hasn't sent a letter in years," he said, explaining Hedwig's ire. "Post owls don't like that and _Mr. Hedwig's_ arrival is news to me as well. I was just as surprised as you."

"Maybe that's why she cuffed you," Lillian said. "You haven't visited her in some time. Not cool Harry," she said mockingly.

"Do you want to hear about Luna or not?"

Lillian drew her wand and almost effortlessly conjured an armchair complete with bright purple fluffy pillows. She settled herself in comfortably and waited for him to begin.

 ** _Flashback_**

 **Two months ago.**

Harry was walking through the corridors with no aim in mind. He was busy pondering over the latest development of his element in one of the duels with the Drakons. It was the first time he had literally pulled water of the atmosphere to attack the Drakons. He usually became water himself and he was an endless source of it. As long as he had the strength to use magic, the water and ice would never runout. But this time to gain an advantage, he had summoned water out the atmosphere. He had unconsciously gathered the minute particles of water around them and frozen them into projectile weapons. It had been a thrilling experience for him.

Somewhere on the seventh floor Harry ran into a very strange sight. A girl with very long blonde hair was swinging on a swing hanging from the rafters and she was talking with a portrait.

For some reason Harry felt a wave of danger and caution tense his body. The girl turned towards him and Harry was flooded with recognition.

"Luna?" he said surprised. Her aura felt so different from the last time they had met and he unconsciously felt his mind tense. Something was wrong and his element was warning him about potential danger.

Her warm smile did nothing to ease his instincts.

"Harry Potter," she said dreamily. "You remember who I am."

"How can I forget," he said dryly. "You left a permanent impression behind." He remembered the day she had forced Lillian and him to kiss. Lillian was indeed a permanent impression in his life after that.

"That's lovely," she said giggling. "It's nice to hear such things."

A faint squeaking sound, coming from the swing, permeated the silence around them And then, in the blink of an eye, Harry suddenly found the young girl facing him and swinging just out of his reach. Her grey eyes were sparkling with amusement and her hair swayed, leaving behind a trail of silver dust with every swing.

Harry found it odd that the swing was making the squeaking sound that comes from a swing hanging on metal chains when the swing the strange girl was sitting on was made of wood and hung from the rafters with a simple rope. She had charmed it to make that eerie sound and he realised she was using magic on a whim. It would certainly explain her sudden appearance right in front of his face and the slivery dust that fell from her hair like snow flakes in a gentle breeze.

"So which dimension are you looking into now," he commented, gathering his courage and refusing to let a fourteen year old manage to intimidate him.

Luna just laughed delightedly, letting the swing take her a little higher. "You noticed from our first meeting itself! The Nargles must have really buzzed in your ears."

"They were quite loud and mind boggling," he said dryly. He was slowly understanding this girls odd manner of speech and instead of focusing on the words, he focused on her tone. All the answers were there in the tone of her voice. You just had to put them in context.

Luna hummed, her eyes wide and happy. It was refreshing to talk to someone with brains that were productively used and he looked past the craziness and looked for the truth instead of asking her for it. Excitement tingled in her nerves and the part of her that was now the Witch Queen desired this delicious prey. She wanted to play and revel in the taming of a powerful man but Luna was in control. She was always in control and she moderated the lust for domination and settled for teasing and fun. That was who she was after all.

"They always are," she said mysteriously. "You have a penchant for trouble in most of them."

Harry laughed, still feeling the primal instinct of fight or flight invade his senses. His eyes could see no danger whatsoever but his instinct seemed to differ greatly. He felt the need to assert his dominance over this odd magic emitting from Luna and calmly conjured a floating armchair and levitated himself onto it. Like a hammock it began to sway side to side and he crossed his legs while smiling charmingly at her.

"The things you must see everyday," he said, in wonder. "How do learn to cope?" He asked curiously. "I know it's happened recently. You no longer have that cloudy and confused expression in your eye."

"Perceptive as always, Harry Potter," she murmured. "If you must know I had help. And since she's joined me, my sight of the universe of Flufferbees now has an edge."

Flufferbees... Multiple dimensions, he realised. And now it was like her vision has sharpened drastically. "Unending dimensions running parallel to each other having same yet different destinies all together. And you say you can see them all."

The ropes disappeared from her the plank she was daintily seated on. She floated closer to Harry and her magic synchronised the movements of their material conjurations. "Flufferbees like to be different," she whispered, barely six inches away from Harry. "They change things at different moments while remaining similar for times stretching to eternity. Every second, change is happening and I can see all their permutations and combinations. I can even see the dimension where your elemental power comes from. It is an overflowing place of incredible power which you have access to."

Her eyes began to glow, a faint green and the small smile playing at the edge of her lips roused Harry's annoyance. He didn't like it when someone knew a lot more about his fate than him. He knew what Luna was saying. She knew all the possible actions he could take in every second of his life. She could see dimensions that already went through the battle they were about to have and she knew the possibilities that made up the outcome. And she could assimilate them all in a moment.

But instead of coming forward with her abilities, she was lurking in the shadows, hiding behind a mask of weird and innocent. His element could see past her disguise and held the magic behind this little girl as a very real threat. And by the smile on her lips Harry knew she knew what he was thinking and it was beginning to piss him off.

"In some of them," she continued. "You are so aroused by my strangeness and the scent of my magic, that you hold me up against this wall," her eyes flickered to her left, "and fuck me with the same passion you fuck Lillian Austin."

Emotion disappeared from Harry's eyes and a cold unreadable mask was drawn over him. Luna had changed and not for the better, he thought coldly and felt disgust and revulsion by her talk. His anger levels spiked at the crass way she talked about Lillian and he wanted nothing more than to hold her against the wall and put the fear of him into her soul.

"In others you never meet me and have a deep introspective look at the person you've become," she added. "Some of my favourites are Lillian catching us in the act and making it a hot threesome and another entertaining dimension is one in which Lillian meets Professor Snape in the common room and is suddenly overcome with lust because of his cold badarse personality and he by her power. They end up fucking on the couch."

Harry's wand was in his hand in a flash and the temperature in the corridor drastically fell. "You might want to carefully consider your next words," he said coldly, feeling a burst of fury.

Luna sighed and her expression changed from wicked delight to slightly demurred. "In most of them you don't rise to the bait and carry forward a delightfully arousing conversation."

"It's a good thing you can't know what I do this dimension then," he growled dangerously.

"I don't," she agreed. "If I did, life would no longer be exciting. Existence would become as boring as a Flubberworms existence."

"Excitement," Harry suddenly laughed. He felt ashamed of his lack of control and his mood brightened considerably as he completely understood what Luna was saying. He wasn't going to let this girl push his buttons. "You are an incredibly unique creature," he said dryly. "And you wouldn't be this antagonising playful unless you had a whole new personality injected into you." His eyes narrowed shrewdly and he assessed the differences in the before and after Luna's.

He firmly took control of the magic holding his armchair and her plank and brought them down to the ground. He stood up and to his surprise, Luna floated up, her short and thin frame rising to his eye level nonchalantly. She was never this powerful as well, he thought in alarm. This meant that she had undergone some type of possession which was giving her large reserves of magic that allowed her razor sharp clarity over her vision of multiple verses. Harry felt amazement at the kind of power it would require to do that and he suddenly felt respect for this odd blonde looking at him serenely now.

"That's what happened isn't it?" he asked, knowing she could read his mind without having to use occlumency.

"That's right," she said honestly, causing Harry's eyes to widen. "In most dimensions it doesn't happen and I remain a sweet happy go lucky child with mommy issues." She chuckled humorously. "Very few universes are exactly like the one we occupy, Harry," she breathed. "Even it terms of infinite dimensions, we are quite different. I especially like this version of me. She's so cool that it makes the Wrackspruts in me tingle."

The meaning was not lost on Harry.

"You should be careful," she warned playfully. "You lose her in most of them. The battle is coming and it's _not_ going to be _pre~tty_!" she sang.

"I won't lose her," Harry said quietly. This time he was calm. Her words didn't provoke him. "And she's not going to lose me."

Luna smiled. This time there was no double meaning behind it. It was a smile of warmth and acknowledgement of his strong feelings for the fire elemental. "You get everything that you've always wanted too," she whispered.

"And you know how it can happen."

"Yes."

Harry grinned and patted her gently on her head. "It was nice talking to you Luna. I look forward to not running into you again," he said mildly and stepped around her to go on with his walk.

Luna lowered herself to the ground, a happy smile on her face. She knew they would meet again and she knew it was going to be greatly amusing for her. She sighed in contentment and wondered if there was anyone else in the castle right now to play with. The Witch Queen Nerferteri desired complete dominance over the world of men. Luna simply enjoyed games where she could torment them. Everything else lacked the fun she craved for.

 ** _End flashback_**

"I hope you can see why I didn't want to talk about it," Harry grumbled. "That girl is a headache I just want to avoid."

"You lose me huh," Lillian muttered.

"I don't," he said sharply. "Don't bring it up. It's not going to happen."

Lillian couldn't avoid that thrill of happiness that his words inspired in her.

"You didn't ask her about the dimension we travelled to?"

"I'll ask her next time," Harry said sarcastically. "Or better yet you can take responsibility for that headache!"

"No need to get snippy," she retorted. "It was just a suggestion."

They fell silent for a moment.

"Sorry," Harry said. "I don't like remembering what she said."

Lillian sighed. "Man, now on top Drakons, Elves, Dwarfs and unknown dark creatures, we have a horny pubescent girl who can literally peek into the future."

Harry dropped himself on the bed. "Day five is going to be real fun," he laughed.

"It's the final battle," Lillian said dramatically. "Evil verses the forces of all that is good and virtuous in this world. Staring the vivacious Lillian Austin and in supporting role Harry Potter as eye candy for vampires and werewolves!"

"I'm in supporting role?" Harry snorted. "Dream on Freckles. Or have you forgotten the last time we duelled."

"I can take you," she said confidently.

"Not in this dimension you're not," he retorted. "I'd kick your arse from her to the moon in under five seconds."

"Oh?" Lillian said wickedly. She stood up, positioning herself to attack Harry but instead her leg got caught in the legs of the armchair and she tripped falling head first on the table.

Harry roared with laughter and then his laughter changed to shock when Lillian accidentally put her hand into the pensive to regain control and was promptly sucked into it.

Harry could only gape as the pensive that had denied him entry. Salazar Slytherin's pensive that did not allow him to view the memories in it, had accepted Lillian without any form of resistance. Harry jumped out the bed and ran to the pensive. He tried to put his hand in but again, an invisible barrier prevented him from entering it.

The memories shimmered and Harry stared at the pensive, feeling helpless. All he could do now was wait.


	60. Part 2 - Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Day Five**

 **Day Two**

Harry was staring quizzically at Lillian. "Okay, backtrack," he said firmly. "Slytherin was a muggleborn, that I already knew. He was going to be burnt at the stake when he was discovered to be a wizard and Gryffindor saved him."

"He came galloping out of the forest on the most gorgeous horse I have ever seen," Lillian gushed. "You should have seen it Harry. The villagers were so stunned by his appearance and I was too!" She laughed. "He had long yellow hair and this horrible scraggly beard but he was tall and bloody well built. I'm telling you, Tarzan has nothing over what Gryffindor was."

Harry dismissed her praises about Gryffindor impatiently. "Can we get back to the part where you said his mother was a slave in _my ancestors home!"_

"They were terrible," she said frowning, her mood shifting from swooning to disgust. "The McDougan's were incredibly arrogant because of their vast influence and they were very powerful as well. After Slytherin was rescued by Gryffidor, the McDougan's found out where his mother had escaped to and killed her."

The gory tale didn't effect Harry one bit. He was deeply fascinated by the history of his ancestors for better or worse. "And then Slytherin found them and killed them."

"To make a very long story short. Yep," said Lillian. "But he let this one girl live. She was ostracised by the rest of her family and she was the one who lead him to the castle just like Vivian said. He met her once thereafter and by then she was married to a potter in one of the villages in Scotland." Lillian giggled. "And he was a potter in the sense he made clay pots for a living. That's how your family got their name Harry." Lillian couldn't stop giggling. The Potters were once well respected in the Wizarding world and their origins amused her to no end.

Harry rolled his eyes. "And what about Hogwarts? Was Slytherin as bad as the history books say?"

"Well he never had any issues with muggleborns," she said thoughtfully. "But he wanted the complete isolation of the magical world from the non magical. He wanted muggleborns to give up their lives in the non magical world permanently."

"Muggles tried to kill him. I'm sure we can allow him a little sympathy for his stance," Harry said.

"Yea, but the other founders were completely against it and that's what lead him towards the black arts."

"Black arts?"

"That's what they called the dark arts then," Lillian explained. "Anyway he went so deep that he lost himself and tried to create a spell that would permanently divide the two worlds. Once a muggleborn accepts his place his the magical one, he would be bound by a contract to leave the non magical world or else forfeit his magic. When Gryffindor found out about it he was furious and tried it put an end to it but Slytherin was unswayed. They had a terrible argument and ended up duelling in the great hall."

Lillian had an expression of awe when she remembered the duel. "Both of them were evenly matched," she said reverently. "But towards the end Slytherin made a mistake. He dropped his guard for an instant and it was all that Gryffindor needed. I don't know why he did it but he did and he just smiled and allowed Gryffindor to strike him in his back with his sword." She shuddered recalling the amount of blood that had spurt from his torso when that magnificent blood soaked sword was withdrawn.

Harry hung on to every word she said, wishing for the hundredth time, he could get into the pensive. "So he died? How did his memories end up in the pensive."

"He didn't die in the duel. Gryffindor banished him from the castle and told him to never return. It was all very emotional. Helga and Rowena were crying. The students were watching with distress and worst was Gryffindor. He felt betrayed by the man he had saved from certain death and trained him to become such a great wizard. I honestly don't know what was going through Slytherin's head but he could have defeated Gryffindor if he really wanted to but he didn't. Instead he went down to his chamber, which is the chamber of secrets by the way and deposited all his books and memories into the pensive before leaving the castle. I haven't seen all the memories but these were the ones I was interested it."

"So Vivian wasn't lying," Harry murmured. "I did have my doubts before but now..."

"Crazy right? I loved the memory where Slytherin peed at the foot of Vivian's portrait after slaughtering everyone inside." Lillian laughed gleefully. She was definitely going to rub it in Vivian's face if she ever met the arrogant portrait again.

Harry snorted. "She didn't mention that when we met her."

"As if she would admit to such a thing," laughed Lillian. "And if we see her again I'll be sure to bring it up. Nasty bitch called me names last time."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Did you at least find out why the hell can't I enter the pensive?"

"Oh yes. Slytherin really hated your family. I think I caught a memory where he inscribed the rune of rejection using the blood of your ancestors at the bottom of the pensive. Only a parselmouth can enter the pensive and I fulfil those conditions. You, however, have been barred by magic," she said smirking.

"Well then, all we have to do is empty the memories into vials and erase that stupid rune," said Harry. "Then we can use the pensive for our own needs."

Lillian suddenly grinned mischievously and her eyes sparkled as an exciting thought crossed her mind. "We could see our own memories of us doing it," she said, her eyes alive and imagination running wild.

Harry's eyes glazed over. "That..." he breathed, his nostrils flaring, "That is an incredibly erotic idea," he said, his blood pressure rising. He glanced at the pensive and weighed the pros and cons of getting to it right now but Lillian put all those ideas to rest the next moment.

"But I think we should probably find Sarah and Sirius first," she said, her voice heavy with disappointment. She silently cursed Harry for stilling responsibility in her. "I'm sure the others are going to need our help."

"Menial work," Harry said wrinkling his nose in disgust. "We'll be shepherding people and following instructions. It's a pain Freckles. I like the pensive idea better."

"Let's at least make sure they don't need us," Lillian said responsibly and it was a bit odd that it was coming from Lillian and not Harry this time around. Harry was a little preoccupied with visions of his tour of the pensive with his girlfriend.

"Fine," he grumbled. "But if anyone tries to unload work on me I'm going to get nasty. Even if it's your friends."

"Fine," she said rolling her eyes.

Harry spent the rest of the day in a terrible mood and was rude to anyone who even spoke to him regardless of their polite and even cautious tone.

Just as Harry predicted, Lillian, their friends and he were given the task of herding all the remaining muggles in the castle to the Australian sanctuary. Hogwarts was being evacuated of all non essential personal and every single person was on the move, transporting thousands of portkeys to the remaining muggle troops all over the world. Wizards and witches were being transported to the naval fleets to help speed up the movements of the ship with the help of new crystals the department of magical weapons had created. Thousands of troops were converging all around the area Voldemort was suspected of being in and thanks to the cold weather Harry and Lillian were also put in charge of creating portkeys to send charmed clothes to keep the troops warm and alert.

Lillian was treated to more than a few dark glares from Harry but she steadily ignored him. It wasn't her fault they were actually needed.

Harry wondered if he should find Luna and ask her where she hid all the time because he never saw her doing a thing around the castle. He discarded that idea as soon as it came and glumly resigned to his fate for the day.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Day 4**

The day before they set out, the remaining people in the castle had organised a small party. There were many budding musicians in the army and in record time a small band was set up in the great hall and copious amounts of booze and chips were obtained as entertainment.

Those who were lucky enough spent the day in the company of the opposite sex and made merry all day and all night.

Harry and Lillian never left their room.

 **Day 5, December the 5th 1996**

The portkey was set to leave in one hour and two men were impatiently waiting for a woman in the room of the founders.

Harry had finally brought Dumbledore to the room he had discovered a long time ago when he was an innocent first year. Dumbledore had been shocked to know that he never heard about this room and Harry dryly informed the headmaster it was mentioned in Hogwarts: A History.

As it transpired that despite it being such a famous book, like the thousands of students before Harry's arrival at Hogwarts, Albus 'The Great' Dumbledore had not read the book too.

Harry wondered what Granger would have to say about that. He chuckled under his breath imagining her shock and outrage.

"Something funny?" Dumbledore said mildly, while carefully examining the runes on Slytherin's pensive. He was fascinated by the object and was carefully poking and prodding at it with his wand.

"What isn't," Harry joked.

Dumbledore hummed and found an interesting rune that allowed only a parselmouth access to the pensive. He carefully pushed a little magic in that rune and with practised ease, born out of a century of experience, he disabled the rune.

He smiled in satisfaction. As if runes would stop him from seeing Slytherin's memories he thought in amusement. He lightly touched the shimmering silver mist of memories with his wand and drew a thin strand out of it.

Harry was facing Dumbledore's back and was tapping his foot impatiently as they waited on Lillian to come out the washroom. She had mysteriously said she wanted to get ready and had disappeared into the washroom. That had been almost an hour ago and Harry was getting very annoyed. They were going into the most important battle of their lives and they were being held up a woman in the washroom. As a result he didn't see what Albus was up to or else he would have warned the ancient wizard.

Albus was expecting to see a memory of a young Salazar Slytherin and what he saw mortified him. With a loud gasp he broke the connection and whipped around facing Harry with an expression of shock and embarrassment.

Harry frowned wondering what was wrong with the headmaster and then noticed a rune flickering on the pensive. He quickly connected the dots and his eyes widened comically before he began to laugh.

"Yes," Harry said turning blue in embarrassment. "Lillian and I removed Slytherin's memories and out in one of our first memories of doing it an d then recreated that magic inside the pensive."

Dumbledore quickly regained his composure and shook his head in exasperation. "Harry, that pensive is a historical artefact! And those memories are priceless! You can't have..." His voice choked. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, there was an expression of deep disapproval. "You can't desecrate it in such a fashion!"

Harry just grinned, unrepentant. "Our sex drives would like to disagree," he said dryly.

Dumbledore could only feel sorry for the pensive. He was certain this wasn't the fate Slytherin had hoped for his precious pensive. "I hope you kept those memories safe," he said sighing.

Harry pointed at the foot of the bed where there was a huge jar filled to the brim with liquid like silver mist. "We were going to gift it to you since you already have a pensive."

"How thoughtful," Dumbledore said dryly. "Now where is the lovely Miss Austin? I sincerely hope she realises how dire being late is going to be."

Dire was an understatement, Harry thought. He would have gone in to get her but she had forbidden him from coming in and warded the bathroom to boot.

Relief was visible on their faces when the washroom door opened and Lillian came out.

Harry's eyes widened and he banished all annoyance from his mind.

Lillian was wearing black tight fitting pants and a neatly tucked in white shirt with a black full sleeved leather jacket that had its collar kept down and zipped up halfway over it. Her hair was cut into neck length with jagged ends and was now a shade of black that rivalled Harry's. She had applied the perfect amount of mascara and brightened her lips with a light shade of red. To top it all off she was leather boots with a slight heel that made her look hot and badarse.

Harry swore never to complain if she took her time getting ready.

"This could be the end or a new beginning," said Lillian with uncharacteristic seriousness. "Either way, I want to look cool and attractive."

Harry's breath came out in a shudder and he reined in his hormones. "You know that I love you right?" He said seriously.

"Of course. I love you too."

Dumbledore wisely kept silent and let the young adults to have their moment.

"I can't look like this with you looking like that!" Harry joked.

"I believe I can help," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. He swished his wand at Harry and his plain black robes transformed into a tuxedo without the jacket and a loose silver green diagonally striped tie around his neck keeping the top button of his white shirt open.

He gave a critical once over and then flicked his wand at Harry's hair giving it a wind swept appearance.

"Dashing," Lillian said in approval. "I wouldn't mind being caught with you at my side now," she joked.

Harry rolled his eyes and transfigured the shiny shoes into tough hunter boots. He wasn't going to go into battle wearing toe hurting shoes.

A stray thought reminded him he would have never even considered dressing up for a war and he affectionately credited Lillian with the change in his personality. He looked at Lillian with an arched eyebrow. "Well?"

"Now I just want to jump your bones," Lillian said grinning.

"And now I simply must interrupt and insist," Dumbledore said politely. "We have to go."

Harry and Lillian looked at Dumbledore's bright purple robes that had a moving two dimensional solar system printed on it and simultaneously decided it was definitely the best look for the powerful wizard.

"Let's go," he said and Lillian and Harry followed. Harry gave one last look and Lillian squeezed his hand gently.

Determination filled the two elementals and with faces set in stone they headed to the Great Hall. It was finally time.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The entire castle was empty. Harry couldn't remember the last time he was able to hear the sound of his boots echo off the walls. Those who were not fighting were shipped off to Australia and those who were going to fight were in and around Canada, either on land or on water.

The elves had set up a magnificent camp in Northern America where Harry was told there were nearly two hundred elves and twice as many healers and doctors, waiting grimly for their beds to be filled. It was inevitable. There were going to be more casualties then they could handle. The elves shared none of those worries and peacefully waited.

The Drakons had already departed to the edge of Voldemort's hideout and the Dwarf army swelled the ranks of those on foot. The muggles and wizards couldn't help but feel bolstered and confident when the Dwarves arrived with their huge axes and ginormous futuristic catapults.

Through the frozen waters of the North West, the remaining fleet of destroyers and aircraft carriers powered through until their invisible target was within their range of fire. General Casey and his counterparts from all over the world were on the ships connected by magic and technology to all their troops. Every artificial satellite that they still had control over were all aimed at one region of the world.

It was an unprecedented act of war upon on terrible enemy that had laid waste to the world and murdered over seventy percent of its population just because of his ambition and mad desire to look down upon the world.

The great hall was never so empty as it was now. There was no one save a few wizards who were waiting on them. The ceiling glittered with stars and a silver plate served as their portkey to war.

"We'll see you soon Hogwarts," Lillian whispered, squeezing Harry's hand.

"Good luck," said the wizards left behind and the portkey activated.

Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore arrived in a white wasteland with a drastic drop of temperature. Harry's mood brightened considerably and Lillian and Dumbledore broke out in chills.

"B-bloody Christ!" chattered Lillian for a second before raising her body heat to melting point. The snow beneath her feet began to melt and she quickly adjusted her temperature.

Dumbledore spelled an heat bubble around his body keeping the cold winds away and he looked around curiously, wondering where the Drakons were hiding.

"Doesn't that dark lord know you're stronger in this frozen desert?" Lillian groused. "This ice is bloody irritating!"

"All this ice and I can control it all," Harry grinned, "Poor strategy Voldemort is employing."

"Or he's that confident in his power," Dumbledore added. "Now we have to go North. A mile ahead is where our scouts have been disappearing. I believe we might find our Drakon allies on the way."

They started to trudge through the deep snow and had to employ certain charms to walk easy. Harry couldn't use his element to take them faster because of caution against wards. They couldn't feel anything as they traveled but the three kept their senses sharp.

A gust of wind passed by and Harry sighed in bliss. "This is perfect," he said. "I could live here forever."

"You won't be seeing me around," Lillian said darkly. "Repulsive weather this."

They saw several snow covered dead pine trees around them and around them was the Drakon army. Their black scaled monstrous body glowed with molten cracks and their eyes were burning balls of crackling magic. Nineteen Drakons stood side by side, their leather and bone wings folded and spiked tail twisting and swaying.

They were a dangerous and awe inspiring picture to the three wizards against a pure white landscape.

"Have you found anything?" Dumbledore asked their leader. The smallest and humanoid Drakon, who stood at six and a half feet.

"We have," the Drakon rumbled, his voice almost soft in the screaming wind. "Bicorn wards," he said, his features twisting into an ugly rage.

"Bicorns?" Lillian asked, bemused. "What are those?"

"You will see," the Drakon said and turned around to lead the way.

They had arrived at the crack of dawn, under the cover of a light blue sky and now the blue was brighter and deeper as they continued their slow trek towards an unseen enemy. They trudged over a small hillock and when they reached the peak they saw it.

A vast moat of bubbling black ooze stretched on in a gargantuan arc. Coming over the hill seemed to remove the illusion of calm and throughout the sky, emerging from the moat, tiny black veins enclosed the enormous tower glaring over all.

The group of wizards didn't have time to comment on the malevolent power rolling out of the tower as a lance of black ooze launched towards them at incredible speed.

The Drakons let loose a blast of power in unison and the landscape turned red.

Rock and ice showered all around them in the aftermath of the clash and Dumbledore raised a silver shield while Harry and Lillian let the debris pass through them harmlessly.

"Well that explains why everyone we sent was killed," Harry said.

"What the hell is that?" asked Lillian making a face.

"Bicorn," spat the Drakon. The ooze was reforming into a reptilian shape after it's first attack failed.

"I don't see two horns," Harry said, squinting to see if he had missed anything.

"The tail."

What looked like a pool of ooze that served as strange wards was a deep pit swarming with hundreds of creatures with a long and thick torso, a wide head with razor sharp teeth and a tail that had two dangerous curved horns at the end.

There was no noise apart from the howl of the wind but all of them could feel the scream in the magic around them.

"For the Bicorns' to be revived, Voldemort has indeed fallen," Dumbledore said quietly. "Do you still have the compass Harry?"

Harry summoned the compass from his bottomless pocket and showed a flicker of surprise at the reading.

The needle was a heartbeat away from complete release. Whatever the wards were, they had even fooled the compass. Voldemort had given up and allowed Evil to begin its return to the world.

The thought crossed his mind once more and his heart skipped a beat. Voldemort had given up. This was no longer a war against a dark lord. A tiny pocket of fear appeared in his heart before he cursed and crushed it by summoning his element. His eyes turned hard and determined.

"DRAKONS!" boomed the leader. "THE TIME HAS COME!"

The battle had already begun.

"Dumbledore! We need to get rid of those wards!" Harry shouted as a Bicorn thundered on scaled feet towards him.

The ground began to rumble as close to two hundred Bicorns flew up towards them and the black veins in the sky grew larger and stronger.

" _Confrigo Glacius!_ " Harry roared and the entire length of the hill exploded halfway. The massive mass of rock and ice rose, defying gravity and suddenly fell atop the oncoming hoard.

The ground and air shook with the impact of nature and it's power.

"A little warning next time moron!" Lillian yelled

The tremors receded and the destroyed Bicorns oozed out from the cracks and reformed into their monstrous forms.

"How do you kill these things?" Harry asked frowning.

"Leave that to us," said the Drakon leader taking a step in front of the trio with a strange gleam in its molten eyes. "Attack the moat with all your power and destroy the ward. It is a powerful concealing ward but fragile to assault. We will handle our eternal enemies."

The Drakons took flight in a burst of turbulence and Harry watched in awe as the Drakons roared in unison, combining all their magical power in a single blast and the Bicorns, looking up with cruel eyes burning with hate, met the colossal ball of magic with black orbs of condensed magic with the ends of their tails.

Dumbledore grabbed Harry and Lillian's wrist, his face a mask of concentration. "Above Miss Austin. Quickly now!"

Lillian teleported the instant the land space was torn apart with wild uncontrollable magic. Opposites had met with equal power and blown the surrounding air away.

They reappeared far above the clash and could see specks of movement on the broken Earth below. "Take us to the highest point of the dome!" Shouted Dumbledore, as gravity took hold and they began to plummet.

Lillian's eyes flared with fire and she teleported them to the top most point of the ward. The power of the ward was strongest at ground level but was weakest at the top.

"Together now! Your most powerful attack!" Dumbledore commanded.

They had to focus their attacks at a single point. They instinctively knew this. Harry created a lance made of highly condensed ice and it materialised on Harry's wand hand. His eyes glowed silver and he mixed explosive magic into his ice changing its glow to the blood red of the confringo curse. Lillian raised both her hands making a heavy sphere of fire; waiting to be released from Lillian's hold. Dumbledore; his blue eyes cold, revealing the ancient depth of power behind the wrinkled face; held his wand like a dagger and then they thrust down.

Lillian's fire was the fastest as it exploded away from her and struck the black ward with a massive boom. The air began to heat drastically when Harry's lance and Dumbledore beam of silver light collided with the rippling wards.

The entire magic was absorbed by the wards and the black veins crawled and then froze and then cracked.

"Freckles!" Harry shouted as the cracking wards rushed towards his face as he fell.

Lillian was alert and once again she teleported the instant the ward exploded. Wings of fire sprawling out from her back sharply slowed their descent while the air thundered with the sound of the ward failing.

They had to clench their eyes and ears while the air and ground quaked in an effort to contain the blast of magic. Three seconds later it was over and they opened their eyes to the full view of the enemy forces.

"Damn," Harry was the first to say.

The sky was brightening, a happy gold but was in complete contrast to the shadows on the ground.

Lillian had brought them to a couple of miles distance from the tall tower and all they could see was an assembled army of deformed monsters that sort of resembled werewolves; only more larger with dead black eyes and shark like jaws. Hidden behind them were many other creatures along with wizards loyal to the insanity of Voldemort.

The one thing they all had in common was pupil less black eyes devoid of any semblance of life. The ground beneath them was covered in a liquid similar to the ones powering the wards and they were all coming out from the foot of the tower. Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore were slowly being surrounded by monsters and black magic alike when Harry called for a tactical retreat.

"The wards are down, we should recover and gather the ground troops," he said amidst the menacing growls around him.

"The Drakons Miss Austin," Dumbledore said quickly and for the third time Lillian teleported them back to the destroyed ward line.

The whole operation took fifteen seconds.

They were teleported into another raging battle field between Drakon and Bicorn. There was no time to take a breath.

"Harry the signal," Lillian shouted as Dumbledore raised a shield around them as a Bicorn came crashing down towards them in three pieces. The Drakons were running riot.

Wasting no time, Harry removed the device that Croaker had given him and launched it in the air. "Reducto," murmured Dumbledore and Harry stuck an earpiece in his ear, as did Dumbledore and Lillian.

The small box shaped object burst into a blue rune and glowed brightly before dissipating into nothingness.

"General?"

"Alright we got the location," crackled General Casey' voice. "What's their strength like?"

Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore were standing a little distance away from the Drakons who were zipping through the air with a black, jagged sword in one hand and pulsing magic in the other, cutting the tails of the Bicorns and blowing them to oblivion. But the sheer numbers of dark creatures that kept rising out of the ooze never changed and they knew they would have to join the battle soon.

"Abnormal but we are stronger," Harry replied.

"If the Drakons can cope, you three return to the second rendezvous. We'll begin phase two."

"Got it," muttered Harry. "Freckles? Do you mind?" Lillian was their personal instant transporter now.

Lillian huffed but nodded and disappearing in a roar of fire. She was very sensitive about being used as a messenger girl because of her powers.

She returned a couple of seconds later. "The Drakon says they can handle the Bicorns. These are only creatures meant to slow the enemy down, he says. The real battle is yet to begin."

Dumbledore removed the second portkey; a doll, and held it out. "Let us not waste time then," he said grimly. When three fingers touched the doll, Dumbledore added his wand and murmured, "Activate."

They were dropped in stormy waters aboard the biggest aircraft carrier they were ever likely to see. NMF VICTORY was being readied for the launch their warplanes and in tandem with the waves rocking both sides of the ship, men in yellow coats ran from point to point yelling and gesturing orders. The sun was shining brightly above the ocean behind the dark clouds gathering over land.

"The General is in the bridge," said a man in blue overalls after they arrived. "He's waiting for you."

Dumbledore was familiar with the ship and led them up a series of holes with metal ladders guiding their way. Lillian bumped her head and cursed about five times before they made it to the red lit bridge of the aircraft carrier. In the middle, surrounded by blinking machines and men manning the the equipments, General Casey stared down at a large virtual map on a glass panel with a cigar dangling between his hard lips.

"We're live," he grunted. "Satellites are now working and we're marking the apparation points for the ground squads. A dozen drones have already been launched to test the enemy and drop a few bombs. Depending on the response our manned birds will fly." He puffed his cigar a couple of times and flooded the room with more smoke. The fire detectors had been turned off for the General. "Should we be worried things are going smoothly?" he asked.

"Yes," Harry said simply. "The Drakons and even the elves mentioned several creatures that are a creation of evil. Vampires are one, the newly discovered Bicorns makes two and if the dwarves are to be believed, we're looking at the source of lycanthropy; monsters on another scale."

"Don't forget the Dementors and other experimental creatures be been working on," added Lillian.

Casey grimaced. "The yes was sufficient enough Potter," he growled. "I didn't ask for a god damn lecture on retarded creatures."

"When do we move in?" Dumbledore interjected. His eyes focused on the spot where there were dozens of red dots moving together. "Voldemort is prepared, that much we now now. We should press forward and back up the Drakons.

"The Drakons already have back up," Casey said. "Something they call Newton or something. They basically ordered us to leave the freaky creatures and deal with Voldemort."

"You mean the Neytons," Dumbledore said. He had met with the Drakons, Elves and Dwarves but the Neytons were a mystery. All he knew was they were providers. But what did they provide he had no clue. But he brushed past the question and focused on more immediate matters. "How long till the portkeys are set up?"

Casey's eyes flickered to the top of the glass panel. A timer was going down and it was now at eighty minutes and fifteen seconds. "In that time we're going to start our air strikes. We can't wait and test the enemy too much. This is a fight to death and everyone knows it. Three minutes and our air fleet is going to launch," he said grimly.

"And when do we go back in?" Lillian asked.

"After the grounds troops engage the enemy. It is likely that the Drakons will defeat the bi-whatever on the outskirts and they can back up the ground troops once they're done. Judging by the type of magic powering these creatures, it safe to assume that Voldemort has given in and is only buying time until Evil is reborn. Your job is to wait until we get an opening and find and kill Voldemort." He looked at them with eyes burning with resolve. "Do you think you can do it?"

"Heh," Lillian smirked. She looked mischievous and her eyes were wreathed in flames. This was elemental Lillian and her body was lusting for blood and violence. "It's a good thing I've gotten good at this patience thing."

"My influence," Harry said dryly. He leaned over the glass panel and looked at all the dots that marked their allies. He wondered if one of the dots was Sirius and the others Moody, Sarah, Lupin and others he had become acquainted with in this long war that he had been fighting. He was wondered how many of them would still be alive if the war ended in their victory.

"Drone attack successful," a voice cracked over the radio. "Birds ready to launch."

"Launch," barked Casey into his microphone.

The sonic boom that followed went on and on and the sounds of tires screeching reverberated on their eardrums until they gathered the sense to magically plug the sounds.

Lillian them realised that everyone apart from them was wearing huge earphones and were speaking only through the radio. She scowled at Casey for not giving them a heads up and he just grinned.

"That's the sound of fire power girl," he smirked. "Tons and tons of payload built to exterminate."

"Casey, if I exploded with that much sound, you wouldn't be hear to be proud of it," she retorted. "I prefer to make noise only after I obliterate by opponents. Making noise beforehand is quite childish no?" she mocked.

Harry chuckled and Casey rolled his eyes, "Women," he muttered.

Lillian scowled and sympathised with the crap Sarah had to put up with in a mans world. "Do we have to wait here or can we go to the ground troops," she asked.

"We have Admirals on each ship plus me. All the other Generals and Captains are on the ground." He opened a bag and removed a cosco ball. "This ones a portkey to the Division Sirius is in. They're going to attack from the South. With the Drakons in the East you can combine with them easily. Amelia and Kingsley are coming in from the West."

"No way to attack from the North?"

"Too rough and too dangerous even with magic. If the enemy turns tail and goes North we'll attack them remotely."

"Right that's enough talking I suppose," Harry said. "Let's go to ground. We got to be ready for surprises."

"You and Ms. Austin go along," Dumbledore cryptically. "I'll join you later."

Harry frowned. What was Dumbledore thinking? He shrugged anyway and took the ball from Casey and held it out to Lillian. "Let's go?" He asked her.

Lillian lifted a finger to the ball and touched it with her wand. "Activate," she muttered and they were tugged into the spinning portal and dropped out in a huge camp.

They took a moment to reorient their senses.

It was a scene out of their imagination.

Tall elves with bronzed skins and elegant clothes were all around them, under massive canopies, standing amidst healers and doctors, exchanging soft words while preparing for the inevitable injuries and death that was likely to follow.

Harry and Lillian walked North, out of the medical Camp and found the army of Dwarf and humans ahead.

If the atmosphere in the medical tents was calm and anticipatory, the atmosphere here was charged and electric. The ground was dirt and flat with patches of snow over which stood a hundred Dwarfs and Wizards and Muggles. The wind had a bite but passing through the mass of bodies shouting and joking it became as mellow as a warm butter.

"Excuse me," grunted a Dwarf, holding a tall spear that seemed to have an odd mechanism along its length, when he walked into Harry and swiftly sidestepped and hurried along.

Harry could feel his element stir with excitement. All these men, clothed in heavy winter cloaks with silvery rifles that shimmered in the light slung over the shoulders talking about their upcoming deaths and how glorious or how horrible it was going to be. They laughed and joked and admired the news weapons mass produced in record time under the stern gaze of Croaker and the skilled hands of Chuck. They discussed their kill count in the past battles and Harry had to force his element to calm before it forced him to join in and raise the stakes.

He turned to Lillian and by the grin and glint in her eyes he knew she was enjoying the feeling more than she ought to. He put his hand on her shoulder startling her and told her to hold the impulse for the coming battle.

Lillian just laughed breezily and slung an arm around Harry's shoulder bringing him in close enough for her to smell him. He smelt like autumn leaves and she liked it. "Don't be so worried Harry," she said. "It's all under control but don't tell me you aren't overwhelmed by all this?"

She gestured all around her.

Further ahead were the metallic trebuchets the Dwarves had brought with them and if they strained their eyes they could see vehicles that looked very much like tanks and rocket launchers. Surrounding these massive machines were dozens of squads of Dwarves and Humans waiting for their turn to take the portkey into battle.

There were so many people and the air was thick with sweat and dust despite the actual cold. As far as they could see there were armed people and strange weapons that belonged to the Medieval age but looked as advanced as a machine from the future.

"Hard to take in yeah," Harry admitted. They squeezed between an hastily set up tent and looked for the front line. Left and right; they were hundreds of men and dwarves divided into squads of twenty and they were kept separate by a five meter gap between squads. Harry and Lillian walked through the gaps and Lillian showed several people the finger when they hooted and cat called.

A 'nice arse babe' comment had Harry experience a great show of restraint from pummelling the man.

The Dwarves on the other hand stood calm and straight, talking in soft whispers and exchanging words with humans with an air of dignity. Their small but broad stature and pale but hairy skin brought them all lot of stares and the weapons they carried a look of awe.

By the time they reached the front squads were disappearing by the second with long ropes serving as portkeys. A large tent was erected at the front from where dozens of wizards emerged hurrying about with long ropes weighing on their shoulders. Harry and Lillian walked into the tent to the sight of two columns of witches and wizards working in pairs; one was conjuring ropes and the other was turning it into a portkey based on the instructions on a parchment. Men ran in empty handed and left with their shoulders laden.

Sirius was at the back at he was talking into a microphone.

"Is the enemy moving yet?" he asked solemnly.

"They're waiting on us," a voice crackled back. "Fifty squads have arrived in our location and the air bombardment has already begun."

"Any success?"

"Lots of land being blown up but there's some kind of shadow defending their troops. The tower seems to be the source of it."

Harry and Lillian exchanged a look. It was Voldemort, there was no question about it. From the little they had seen, it was safe to assume that Voldemort had given up control to Evil and it's power was serving as defence for now. They had to attack before it became offence.

"Hey Sirius," Harry called.

"Do not move in until the green flare is fired," Sirius said and put down the microphone with a sigh. He looked up and smiled at the young couple. "Good job with the wards. It went down quite easy from what I hear."

"It just needed a firm punch," Harry said. "How much longer do we wait?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

"We're an army of ten thousand, it takes a little time to get into position," Sirius said. "Half the troops are heading out now and the other half will be divided into two back up groups. It's the Dwarf machines that are taking time to be transported. Those monsters are so charged with magic that it takes nearly ten portkeys used together to transport one."

"I can't wait to see it in action," Lillian said eagerly. "Can you imagine what kind of destructive power it holds?"

"Black!" Called out a voice from the opening of the tent.

It was Moody. "Time for us to move out," he barked. "Stevens is going to stay behind to coordinate. Put on your ear piece and get Potter and Austin to the same frequency. If things get hairy, they're our backup."

His piece said, Moody stalked out, his robes bellowing behind him.

Sirius tapped the little black bud in Harry and Lillian's ear and smiled. "I expect us to be dining in the Great Hall tomorrow," he said emotionally. "And if I'm not there, I want you to lit the sky with fireworks to celebrate by grand exit from this life."

"You'll have to do it yourself," Harry said and hugged Sirius. Lillian did the same, her eyes watery.

Sirius walked out and didn't look back.

The fields got a little quieter after a few minutes as the last few squads departed and Harry and Lillian sat down, controlling the surging emotions. There was excitement, fear and aching anticipation that was making them feel fit to burst.

"Do you think it will come out," Lillian asked.

Harry frowned. "Will what come out?"

"You know what I mean," she replied.

"Honestly I'm not thinking about it. Our plan is simple ain't it. Crush anything that comes our way until we hear the battle cry of victory." Harry got up and sat on the arm of her chair, slipping his fingers through her soft hair. "Are you scared?"

"Don't be silly. My imagination is just running wild that's all. I don't know what to imagine thinking about this creature Evil. Will it be a black cloud or will it take a humanoid body. Does it have a voice and can it use spells..."

Harry put a finger on her lips silencing her. "Like I said. If it comes, we crush it. It's that simple."

Each second they spent in the tent alone with the busy wizards was like cheese being grated slowly and the torn skin was their patience and calmness.

The seconds became an hour and the hour became two when the ear piece they had crackled to life.

"Harry, Lillian, Dumbledore! It's your turn!"

Sirius's voice was heavy and urgent. It stoked their impatience and brought out their elements in full force.

"Portkey now!" Harry barked at one of the wizards and he tossed a stuffed dog at him. Harry caught it and Lillian quickly placed her finger on it.

"Good luck!" shouted the wizards and Harry and Lillian were dropped in a war zone.


	61. Part 2 - Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 - To Death**

Five barrel holes were shoved into their faces the moment they arrived and Harry instinctively almost sliced them to bits.

"Elementals," barked the captain in relief.

The wizards and dwarves were advancing in a square formations and they rained magical bullets down on the rampaging werewolves. The sharp spit of the rifles rattled in the thousands and the scream of rage and pain of beasts being struck down shattered through the air.

"Let's go Freckles!" Harry shouted and the ground beneath his feet began to freeze over. The ran past the gradually advancing soldiers to the front where monsters broke through men like hammer on paste until they were felled by the power of magical guns. The pile of dead bodies grew larger as they closed in on the battle and a blaze of flames signalled their arrival among beasts.

Harry's ears were ringing with the terrifying roars hammering against his ear drums and he ducked under the swipe of a werevamp and gutted his chest with an ice spike.

He looked to find Lillian but he was immediately set upon by a screaming goblin and was forced to defend himself with a wall of ice before raising his wand in a smooth action and blowing the goblins head apart.

Two more werewolves replaced the goblin and a hail of gunfire dropped them before Harry could react. Behind Harry the line of soldiers were protected by a massive shield raised by dozens of wizards together and they kept firing and marching on slowly as monsters broke against their shields.

The shield broke many times against powerful assault and many men died until they got the shields back and pushed ahead once more. But the men did it with heartless resolve and stepped over their dead friends in the fight for survival.

Harry didn't have time to turn back and express his gratitude. Lust was beginning to rage through his blood and a dark grin shadowed his face when he saw the army ahead. He saw werewolves and vampires with wizards at the back and more Bicorns creeping in the darkness spreading out of the tower behind them. Voldemort's experimental beasts and goblins were being used to attack while the rest waited, eager to taste flesh and blood. The aura of violence reeking out of that army was too much for Harry's element to resist and with stormy silver eyes he raised his hands and used the weather to create a sky blotting block of ice over their heads.

"Die!" He hissed and brought the wall down with the power to crush them flat.

He didn't anticipate the Bicorns mutating into black domes over their heads and letting the ice shatter against their bodies.

Low hisses that vibrated in the air creeped towards him and he found his eyes gazing into the black hole that was a Bicorns eye. It was right up against him but the vast darkness that lay inside that captured him and he was suddenly overwhelmed by the sinister magic that was waiting to come out.

The Bicorn raised its tail to attack but a ball of fire crushed it from above and it dissolved with a shriek as Lillian's fire consumed it.

"Harry! What the Fuck!?"

His senses that had left him for a moment retuned with a gasp and his elements bloodlust that had suddenly been dwarfed came back in force.

"Do not look into their eyes," Harry warned Lillian. "There's power in it."

"Got it," Lillian said and turned back to the enemy.

Harry's attack had stopped the probing beasts and now they were gearing up for their full forced attack.

"The Tower is our aim," Harry said and tapped Lillian on the shoulder and whispered a spell. He then tapped himself and said the same spell.

"What was that?" Lillian asked and realised immediately. They could now talk to each other like they were almost face to face. The spell disabled the communication bud that they had but it mattered not because they were now on their own.

"No matter how many beasts get past us we keep moving ahead got it?"

"Why don't I just teleport us?" She asked.

Harry looked at the tower and he could sense the odd magic around it. "I'd rather not risk it, not when we're so close to the tower," he said. "We don't know what magic that is yet."

Behind them the line of soldiers, wizards and dwarves advanced. "Lord Elemental," said a Dwarf, his black eyes blinking solemnly. "What are your commands?"

Harry was thrown a little off guard at the elevation of his status. He then realised that this is what an elemental was to these creatures from the past. Harry half turned and glanced at the sea of leather, cloaks and uniforms. "Lils and I are going for the tower. Don't worry about us and focus on the enemy. It seems they're finally ready to counter."

The pale skinned Dwarf nodded and barked a couple of words in a language far from Harry's understanding.

"Let's go Harry!" Shouted Lillian and wings of fire burst from her back. If she couldn't teleport she would fly.

She was off before Harry could reply and he grinned at the solemn Dwarf. "She's so impulsive sometimes," he said, fondly exasperated. His body then turned translucent and liquid and he shot towards the thousands of organised beasts before him as a dozen fire whips slammed into ground, slicing through many werewolves and shaking the ground.

Harry created a shield of ice and rammed into the snarling werevamps. Sharp teeth, drooling with saliva and yellow eyes, gleaming with hatred rushed past him as he travelled nearly fifty meters into the army until his momentum stopped and his shield was the colour of blood. Bone matter and flesh dripped into the ground and Harry knelt, his head bowed and wand poised a bit above the snowy ground.

Nothing stood a chance against him.

His arms glazed over and tall pine trees with edges sharp as swords erupted out of the ground and split the entire length of the army into two. The Bicorns, vampires and an vast array of creatures were blown away in a red mist that spoke of the power of an elemental.

Harry's body turned water again and he rocketed forward towards the Tower that kept growing larger and menacing. The ground beneath was now covered in the black ooze that drifted outward and his eyes widened when as a man rose out and slashed his wand at him. Harry recognised him. It was Yaxley and his eyes were coal black.

"Die!" he snarled and Harry blocked the curse with wand and slammed a carpet of ice into him crushing the maddened man into a sickly paste like he were a mere bug and the ooze was splattered to opposite ends, leaving the ground clear. But with speed it slithered back and Harry raised a wall to stop them and ran forward. The ooze broke through his ice and shot towards him with intent to pierce until Lillian crashed into the ground beside Harry and with her arms stretched out at opposite ends, she sent a massive column of fire on both sides sending the ooze shrieking in retreat.

Harry's eyes widened briefly he noticed their form turn denser and loose their lustre and he reacted quickly using his element to cut through them smoking parts. A high pitched scream pierced the air and Harry watched a part wither into ash and vanish.

"Freckles! Keep the fire going and move towards the tower!"

They ran forward, Lillian lighting the way and Harry attacking from behind. Amidst the thunderous power of his element and it's lust of death Harry couldn't help but think if all this was fated. Lillian was the light; the flame that could drive the darkness away and he was the sword, crushing the darkness in the shade of the light. It was a perfect combination regardless of them being opposites in nature.

Suddenly the light of the sun vanished and Harry and Lillian found themselves in the shadow of the tower. It was no longer a speck becoming larger but an enormous structure that loomed over them, it's walls making them feel like ants looking up a skyscraper. Only this one was oozing shadows out of hundreds of shafts in the black as night tower. The entire army that the Resistance was facing rose out of the shadows one after the other and there seemed no end to the rising monsters. Even the sound was dulled and the roar of the battle felt distant and softer. A sinister chill had settled in the atmosphere that even Harry was able to feel. The roaring sound of Lillian's fire and the sound of ice cutting through air and exploding on contact with the confringo curse hidden within. It was a combination Harry found very effective and he made sure to limit the attacks to the path in front of him. He had to conserve his power for what lay ahead of them and he was glad Lillian was doing the same.

When they reached the base of the tower the alien magic felt so strong that if they abandoned their elemental states, they would have been brought to their knees and crushed under its weight. Strangely the shadows didn't attack them and they had a moment to catch their breaths and look for a way in. They couldn't think too much, not with the pressure they were feeling.

Harry soon realised they didn't have a choice. The fastest way was teleportation. He linked his arm with Lillian's and gestured up when she turned her fiery eyes on him. She had a half smile on and Harry knew she was enjoying herself more than she ought to.

His world momentarily turned orange and then blue with a massive black roof, shaped like a crown below him. They landed on the roof with their senses high on alert and ready for any attack. But nothing came and they looked around the top of the tower for clues.

"What the hell is this place?" asked Lillian, "This doesn't feel like metal or stone and brick. What is this thing made of?"

"More importantly where is Voldemort? And Dumbledore for that matter?" Harry muttered. He could see far across the horizon and his eyes lingered on the two massive armies clashing against each other. The beasts were advancing and over powering the first line and Harry hoped the Dwarves did something soon.

His worry was erased when the pressure bearing down on them spiked and became even more intense. But it was not enough to bend their knee and Harry and Lillian watched in fascination as a hole opened up in the centre of the roof and a man emerged from its depths. It looked like a man but it was just a glistening shadow in the shape of a man.

The man opened his mouth and a harsh guttural noise that sounded like words pierced the air.

Harry and Lillian instinctively raised a powerful shield mixed with the magic and element but no attack came.

Cautiously they dropped their shields and watched in perverse fascination as Lord Voldemort, a man who clung to life from the grave and then rose to destroy the world appeared as the shadows retreated and reformed into a throne.

"Are you here to become one with me Elementals?" hissed Voldemort and Harry knew this was not Voldemort. His voice was deeper and his eyes lacked the madness that kept Voldemort alive. Instead they were the same pits of darkness that Harry had seen in the Bicorn, only this time it was much more powerful and Harry knew to withstand it.

"Were here to kill you actually," Lillian said airily. Her elemental power made her believe she was capable of anything and she had proven it over time. Her hotheadedness combined with the nature of her element made her bloodlust surpass Harry's and at times even he found it difficult to hold back her impulses. But that was a long time ago. Now she was in harmony with her element and she had discovered she liked the lust her power craved and got along with it just fine.

Voldemort didn't laugh and focused his gaze on Lillian. Remembering Harry's warning she didn't look into his eyes. "I cannot be killed," he said. "The passage through the vessel has begun. It will be complete soon and I will be reborn. With me this world shall be rebuilt in my image."

"What are you?" Harry asked. He had to hear it from the source. He wanted the truth.

"I can hear your thoughts accursed Elemental," Voldemort hissed. "Your stench is as repulsive as ever but we have time. I shall indulge you until the transfer is complete."

Lillian threw a ball of fire at him with intent to kill but to her surprise it just dissipated into nothing.

"I cannot attack you and you cannot harm me until the transfer is complete. I must say this vessel is highly intelligent. The human race has evolved splendidly. My thoughts are coherent and I have a sense of I."

"What are you?" Harry asked again.

"I am the opposite," Voldemort replied. "The birth of this planet came with two opposites. Two powers that rejected the others existence and had no intelligence or consciousness. Time passed by, the opposites evolved and the powers gained conscious. The methods of the clash, too, evolved and we gained the power to create. Two opposite energies locked in an eternal war began to divide their power and gained a semblance of intelligence. With intelligence came imagination and a clash with my opposite resulted in the opposite stealing my power and creating a new life."

Rage, an emotion Harry was very familiar with, rippled through the space making the skin on his arms prickle. Harry summoned more of his power and the temperature dropped drastically while the air around Lillian began to heat rapidly. It was a response to the anger radiating from the creature and the clash of opposite elements besides each other created a hissing mist.

"I am the opposite, destined to spread my energies into this planet. I can sense what my opposite has done with the planet. I can sense its power coursing through my stick in your hand and I can feel its power foul the air around us."

Harry couldn't help but think about Darwin and feel a little put out at the destruction of part of theory of evolution.

The being could hear his thoughts and it almost smirked bringing back a familiar expression on Voldemort's now stoic face.

"There are two breeds of humans Elemental. Those born from the opposites and those born after my defeat and my opposites integration with this world. The world of the past and the world of good integrated after millennia and you two young elementals, have the blood of those created from the collision of two forces. Your blood is the foul blood of humans who ripped through dimensions to gain a higher power. With my revival it will be I who will integrate with the planet and evolution will have its roots in me."

Harry had heard enough and he snapped a bludgeoner at Voldemort but just as the being had said. His attack didn't touch him and it dissipated into nothing.

"This transition is between dimensions Elemental. No power can penetrate the barriers between realms. This tower is where I created the dark arts and was locked in another realm to prevent my force from destruction. The space inside these walls are the gates and indestructible. You cannot harm me until I am free."

"Then what the hell is that outside?!" Lillian yelled. Her frustration at being useless and having to listen to a freaks monologue was grating on her nerves. She wanted to rip that bastard apart but apparently she had to wait patiently. There was a war for survival going on far behind them and here a monster was exuding massive intent to destroy but was sitting on a throne as cool as a cucumber.

"Lord Voldemort was furious at his defeat and unable to think of any way to retaliate he raged and allowed me to overpower his mind. While you have been rebuilding your world I have been transferring myself back into this realm and now you have no way of stopping me."

Lillian ground her jaws and her body was licking with flames.

"Calm down Lillian," Harry said sharply. "If there's nothing we can do we wait. Believe in our friends and wait for the moment to strike. I believe it's almost over." Harry's eyes flickered to the flow of the shadows and noticed they had stopped.

"Good eyes," the creature said. "Now all the foolish creatures that have touched my power are going to supply me their magic. Voldemort's followers gained strength by immersing themselves in my power and now I shall take it all back and grow stronger than before." Voldemort stood up and raised his hands and looked to the heavens. The shadows began to swirl around and what had been oozing out was now beginning to get sucked back into the body. "You are going to be destroyed!" roared the monster, his voice thunderous loud and the air began to thicken.

Harry's eyes widened and he grabbed Lillian and pulled her into him. "Teleport now!" he yelled.

She took them back to the battlefield in an instant and shocked they stared at the horrifying scene before them. The humans and goblins were screaming as the life was sucked out of them by the writhing shadows. The Bicorns had become as large as mammoths and were consuming the soulless shells left behind. All the shadows were retreating to the tower and the tower itself was shaking with power. The screaming stopped and the army they were facing was gone. The Bicorns too, were sucked into the tower and wizards in their own army began to scream as their magic was sucked out if their bodies and joined the shadows.

All became quiet. The tower was still. The shadows gone.

"Positions," yelled a Dwarf and the monstrous weapons they had brought along began to glow red.

The entire Drakon army joined the front, dropping out of the sky with a boom. "Now it begins," growled their leader.

The pop of apparation signalled Dumbledore's arrival and his eyes were cold.

"Prepare the Elvish shields," shouted Sirius whose robes were drenched in blood.

"It's coming," whispered Lillian, feeling a powerful presence choke the air.

And then it came. The tower rippled and burst. A shock wave tore through the air and the shields bent against the force, taking the brunt of the force and then shattered. A black tornado roared in its place and the ground came loose. The shields were raised with panicked screams and rocks and ice the size of elephants and dogs hammered into them.

No man stood without terror freezing their very being. It was just a few and the original creations of Good that stood firm and withstood the blast.

"Attack!" Roared Drakon leader.

The Drakons bent their legs and leaned forward. The cracks on their body glowed bright and magic pooled in their guts to be blasted out of their mouths,

"Fire!" Roared the Dwarf and together, the Drakons and Dwarfs powered their magic towards the growing tornado.

Eyes were blinded by the red power that blotted the sky and a terrifying screech brought them to their knees.

Harry stood still with his hand on Lillian's shoulder. He was watching carefully and making a plan. "Now it can be hurt by magic," Harry murmured and Lillian listened. "It's body was damaged but it's recovering incredibly fast." Before the Drakons attacked, he had put an enchantment around their eyes to see. "It's weak to fire and is brought to a destructible state for an instant. Flamel said we have to hit its heart. That's the only way to kill it so look for the heart. When we find it we target it."

"That things a bloody cloud of glossy smoke. How exactly are we supposed to find a heart? For that matter does it even look like a regular heart?" Lillian whispered back.

A rain of black needles attacked them and the squad of wizards and Dwarves raised another shield to block it. They screamed in pain as the force of the impact was immense and the shield began to crack. They were not going to make it!

Harry's heart hammered and he cursed, preparing to conjure a shield but suddenly a blue light began to seep into the shield squad and their fatigue was erased and power restored. Harry, with wide eyes, saw immaterial human silhouette appear among them and they were glowing blue and sending their magic into the living.

"Neytons; the providers," Harry muttered, finally understanding what they meant by providers. The simply gave what was needed and the shield stood strong until the Drakons and Drawf weapons launched another barrage.

Evil was twisting into another form. It was compressing and resembling a shapeless cloud. This time it countered the attack by opening a mouth in the cloud and screaming a blast of black magic.

The shock wave that followed knocked everyone to the ground.

"Retreat and keep attacking," shouted a Dwarf. "We must increase our distance!"

Even though the creature was besieged on three sides it made no difference. It's attacks kept coming and it kept twisting into a different form. It was now a revolting face with multiple eyes and it was changing still. The only thing certain was it was shrinking.

"The heart is in the centre," came Dumbledore's voice. He had linked into their spell connection. "We must attack the instant after the Drakons attack. Get ready."

The creature was now twice the size of a dragon and what now looked like liquid darkness lanced out from every part of it, shooting towards every living thing around it. It was going to destroy everything.

Harry and Lillian turned immaterial and the powerful passed through them harmlessly. But they felt the drain on their elemental magic and grunted at the power needed to keep up their immaterial form. Dumbledore cocooned himself in a ball of magic and the black magic bounced away from him.

Harry used magic to increase his speed and he conjured a slab of ice in mid air and flashed onto it and using it has leverage, he shot towards the creature. He summoned all his power into a massive spear in front of him and he launched it into the massive black dragon with a scream. It slammed into the beast and it was blasted into the ground creating a huge crater. The slicing curse Harry had added bit into the beast and it's screech of pain echoed in the aftermath.

"It can be hurt! Don't stop attacking!" Harry shouted.

He never noticed the devastation the power of Evil had caused with its last attack they he had avoided. Hundreds of men and Dwarves lay dead, their bodies torn apart and even a Drakon had lost half it's body. He didn't feel the terrible sense of hopelessness that weighed over every human in all directions. Even the Dwarves seemed to be shocked and afraid when the creature began to shrink. They had always know it to be a force of darkness and now they were witnessing its evolution. The Drakons prepared to back the elementals and Dumbledore but Harry noticed none of it.

"Piercing curses! If we can get its heart this will be over before it can start!" Dumbledore shouted.

Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore attacked together, the elementals moulding their element into sharp edged blades and Dumbledore summoning his magic for a tunnel piercing curse.

Lillian scream of exertion followed fiery blades; almost burning white. Lillian was summoning the deeper part of her element and her skin was all flames; flickering lazily while her wide eyes radiated power.

Harry's previous attack had almost settled and the trio of attacks powered into the creature. The land scape cracked and quaked and behind them the Drakons arrived and screamed multiple blasted of magic into the same place unable to see anything but smoke and destruction.

"Keep attacking!" roared the Drakon.

Harry splashed into the ground and immediately reformed into his body. The ground beneath him was broken and no longer plain. It stuck out at odd angles and was still quaking after the attack. If it weren't for the many enchantments on his body to maintain balance and filter noise, he would have long been crushed and bleeding from his ears and eyes. He didn't have to look back to know their assembled army was essentially useless. They had prepared for an assault on Voldemort to stop Evil's revival and instead had found the revival complete.

This was the worst possible scenario and Harry gritted his teeth and focused on his elder wand. It was going to be draining, but he had to take in the wands power into his element.

The air exploded in an hail of shadows and before Harry attack he was surrounded by the shadows. "Shit!" he exclaimed and immediately turned into water. The shadows didn't just pierce, they smashed into him from all sides and even as water Harry felt pain and the drain on his element was enormous.

When it was over he was on his knees and panting harshly. Blood trickled down his lips and head and his eyes were burning in rage. How dare this creature hurt him like this!? How dare it bring him to his knees!

The shadows receded and Harry stood up, his wand clenched firmly and his body half ice half skin with smoke curling out of the ice. Harry had dropped to a temperature where even the cold of the North felt hot. His pupils had enlarged and emerald green was held fast by a smoky silver ring. He turned to Lillian and saw her flames almost white and felt satisfaction. She had immersed into her element as well and now the only thing that they could see was a being powerful enough to be worthy of a kill. All thoughts about keeping his comrades in war safe evaporated and even thoughts of Dumbledore disappeared from his mind. The only one he saw in this state was another elemental of equal power and the opposite whose power felt even more vast.

"Let's go Freckles," Harry hissed and together, in flash of white blue and red they launched upon Evil and were instantly countered by two raised black hands.

The Earth behind the now humanoid creature exploded outwards as the clash of their power was blocked by an open palm. Their fists hissed against the palm of Evil and side by side, the Elementals hissed and poured more power into the blow trying to tear through the hand but it failed.

Cursing they leaped back and glared at the creature as it lowered its arms and the shadows over his face finally receded to reveal the face of a young Tom Riddle. It's transformation was complete and the body of Tom Riddle stood before Harry Potter and Lillian Austin. The shadows had turned into midnight black robes and his skin was pale with black veins running all over. His eyes were pools of malice and his black, crusted lips were curled in the manner of a smile.

"I feel the rift in your blood," he whispered. His voice was soft, harsh and trembled with malice. "It's wide but not as wide as the Elementals who defeated me." Evil chuckled and spread his arms. "This human vessel is truly amazing. I am capable of such complex thoughts and am able to comprehend things once beyond by grasp! My opposite created this complex species and now it is mine!"

Far away from the three the Resistance was drowning in a sea of blood. The injured and dead were increasing and the attacks that pierced them was spreading out of their bodies like a parasite and killing anything in its path. There was complete chaos as muggles fired their weapons at the black ooze and the Dwarves cut through the black magic with huge magical axes, roaring while they did it. Dumbledore had retreated to help them and was conjuring a storm of wind to blow the ooze away with incredible accuracy. Sirius stood beside him, his left arm limp and bleeding while he cursed and cast the banishing curse over and over again.

"This is madness Dumbledore!" Sirius shouted in despair. "We can't hope to keep up with this monster! We have to get away! We must hide Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore eyes reflecting the same terror but was controlled efficiently.

"Tell Harry and Lillian to get out of there Dumbledore!"

"They will fight. Don't lose hope Sirius, there is no place to hide anymore."

"How the hell do we kill that thing! We can't even keep up with it and its a monster. It's a force of nature Dumbledore! We can't bloody kill nature!"

The fear Sirius was showing was reflected in every one. The army to the East and West was in panic and retreating as fast as possible. The distress and despair their voices held hurt Dumbledore more than he could imagine and his own fear was constantly fighting to break loose. The Neytons were under attack as well and they were keeping up with their opposite and providing all those in their range constantly.

Dumbledore realised that they had to stop the spread before it got too deep into their army lines. It was already in a fourth of the length of the army and strengthening his resolve Dumbledore apparated to the point where they hadn't reached.

" _Ventus Extremeus!_ " he roared appearing between two dwarves and the stabbing and leaping ooze was blown away into the sky. " _Orbus_!" he screamed and the wind swirled trapping the entire parasite in a sphere of sharp blades of spinning wind.

"Dwarfish weapon now!" Dumbledore shouted and a boom of a dwarfish trebuchet engulfed the parasite. When the sky cleared there was no sign of the parasite and the army cheered.

"Continue the retreat!" Dumbledore yelled. "Prepare the weapons and construct shields. Another attack will be coming soon!" Dumbledore closed his eyes, wished for Harry and Lillian's victory and apparated to Kingsley's army in the East. They had to regroup. There was no other way now. Their formation was not going to work.

"Dumbledore!" exclaimed a bleeding Kingsley. The parasite had been destroyed here and his ear piece buzzed with the same report from Amelia. They had used Dumbledore's method to dispatch the parasite.

Not responding to Kingsley, Dumbledore tapped the ear piece and connected to Casey. "General, can the satellites see what's going on?"

"We're preparing a remote strike immediately but our elementals are in the target zone!"

"We can't worry about them," Dumbledore said grimly. "Be precise and attack now. We cannot let it attack again. We already lost nearly four thousand."

"Understood," came the sombre reply.

Harry prepared for another strike against Voldemort. In his mind this was Voldemort and no one else. Whatever lay behind those eyes he closed his mind to it and focused on the chest. He had to get to its heart.

"With this mind I can make you a part of me," Voldemort hissed. "Your power will serve mine well Elementals."

Lillian scoffed. Her blazing eyes were filled with scorn and disgust. "You are our opposite. Your nature is to devour. Ours is to grow. You are destined to be defeated worm. Have you retained any of that vanity Lord Worm was famous for?"

Harry felt like laughing. Lillian was stalling for time. Good. But then he looked in her eyes and realised she was just baiting him. She wanted him to attack and was mocking him to try. Harry rolled his eyes and waited. His element too was straining to attack but it no longer had control over him. He was now the master of the element and no matter how deep he sunk into that pit of power his mind was his own.

"You are not human yourself girl," Voldemort hissed. "I can taste my stolen power in you, you are from the blood born in the beginning. The rift in your blood through which you summon powers not meant to be here are an abomination and you will be destroyed."

The scream of a jet distracted them and threads of yellow flashed in the sky and exploded around Voldemort. Harry flashed away and Lillian teleported and they watched nearly a dozen jets pass low, in sky, peppering Voldemort with heavy caliber bullets made with magic.

It was useless.

The ground smoked and when it cleared the holes punched through Voldemort closed with a swirl of shadows.

Harry narrowed his eyes and noticed the abdomen free from injury. "Lillian the stomach is where we aim," he whispered. Harry took a deep breath and raised his wand. He reached for the magic around him; the magic of Good and channeled it into his wand. He could feel the power grow and he mentally pictured the rune spell the Drakons had taught him.

"Now Freckles!" he shouted and she rushed ahead of him summoning a huge ring of fire before her. Harry knew that attack and grinned. He drew back his own wand - the wand created by Evil but filled the power of Good - and launched his spell the moment Lillian let her ring fly.

Voldemort's body bloated to counter but the ring burned and ropes of fire burst out clinging around the shell of Evil and the ring passed through him before launching more ropes from behind. Voldemort screamed in pain and those empty eyes almost flickered when the saw a chain of runes follow the fire. It recognised the magic and intent and exploded his body.

Lillian's world turned black and her body was flung away violently. She wound her fire tightly around her and slammed into the ground and rolled roughly and furiously. She felt her skin tear and bones crack as the force of the explosion sent her careening over the deformed ground, smashing through rocks and ice and she felt her hold on her consciousness weaken. By the time she came to a stop her body was in terrible pain but her hold over her element was still strong.

She groaned and tried to move but only felt agonising pain. "Harry," she whispered, hoping for a reply but she got none. Her eyes flickered open and she saw the cloud of Evil again. It had exploded in such a highly compressed state and was now rapidly filling the sky. "Harry," she whispered again. "Harry are you alright?"

"Don't talk," came a soft voice. "You're injured badly."

Lillian turned her head and felt her element try to slip away. She screamed when pain followed its retreat and howled in agony and pulled the power back. It was the only thing keeping her alive. "Where's Harry!" she cried.

The face of an elf entered her vision and she felt his calm flow into her. "You were sent flying over miles little girl," he said kindly. "You're in the rubble of a crater that is miles wide. Most of our friends are dead and a few managed to retreat to the medical camp."

"Wha-? What are you saying?! Everyone is dead?! How can you be so calm!" She felt her strength return and the pain faded away and her hazy eyes cleared. Pushing the elf away, she stood up and horror filled her mind. She didn't recognise where there were. The landscape was smooth and brown. She looked behind her and saw mountains of ice and rocks piled all over and she grasped the scale of destruction. What kind of magic was this? She thought in horror. Had any one even survived. "Harry!" she gasped and her eyes darted wildly looking for any sign of him while the elf continued to pour white healing magic into her under the spreading darkness.

The massive cloud of shadows above them began to rain black lightening down on them and Lillian conjured a metal shield. The lightening struck and Lillian poured her magic into the shield and only just managed to keep it strong.

"Damn it!" she screamed when it stopped and she angrily summoned her element again. "Harry where the fuck are you!"

Harry apparated beside her and she nearly punched him. His clothes were torn but he was unharmed and she grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a rough kiss. Harry's eyes widened in surprise but then he saw the fear and relief in her eyes. She had thought she lost him.

He pulled away to breath and the sky was relit with the red glow of the dwarf weapons. "We have to attack again," he said. "The elves are here and thousands are wounded. The Dwarves and wizards managed to raise shields but it wasn't enough. They need time to get them to safety."

"Which part do we attack?"

The cloud was shrinking again and this time it was faster.

"Let's aim for the centre together," he said and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Teleport us above it Freckles. We could take it by surprise."

Remotely guided missiles struck the creature and it screeched as the high temperature explosion hurt it and the parts of it turned to dust before turning into thin strands of black and rejoining the cloud. It retaliated by splitting a piece of its body and shot it into the air.

Lillian teleported them far above and they experienced the sudden force of gravity and plunged in free fall. Harry saw a black blot heading towards the distant sea and his heart squeezed. He knew what was to follow but there was no time to dwell on it. He had seconds to react.

He pushed out his arms and made an twenty foot long spike. More spikes grew out of the main body until a massive thorn tree could be made out from the ground below. Fire burst into existence and coated the entire thorn tree and explosively increased its destructive power.

They pierced the monster like it was nothing.

A ear shattering, never ending scream tore their ear drums apart when the plunged into the darkness but withstanding the pain Harry strained and extended his senses as far as possible.

"There!" he shouted, but he had gone deaf and so had Lillian. Blood was pouring out of their ears and with desperation welling deep inside him he put all his power into a single attack and blasted it towards the tiny beating thing that he had sensed inside the monster.

He didn't know if he hit or if he failed. The last thing he thought before blanking out was that the turbulence had become more violent.

Lillian and Harry fell to the ground unconscious.

"Got you!"

It was Dumbledore and he was bleeding all over. His eyes were burning with power and he looked triumphant as the monster twisted and folded on itself. Whatever Harry and Lillian had done it had worked! They had landed a decisive blow on the monster.

 _Ennervate! Helios!_ Gold light shimmered around their bodies removing their injuries _._

Harry and Lillian groaned back to life and felt wearier than they had ever felt before. Neither had thrown such heavy and powerful magic over such a long period of time.

"Get ready," Dumbledore said. "It's not over yet."

The Drakons had surrounded the black mass. Their mouths were wide open and light was pooling in front of it aiming at the spot Harry and Lillian had opened up. Faint wisps of humanoid bluish silhouettes rose around Harry and Lillian and they felt their magic being replenished.

The Drakons screamed and a terrible pressure pressed down on everyone still around. Rocks were shaken loose and and the sky turned red.

" ** _Fire_**!"

The Dwarves keep the volley going. All their remaining trebuchets boomed together and the red sky turned blue.

The quaking of the Earth never stopped and the sound never stopped screaming.

Harry and Lillian drew upon their elements and prepared to launch once more but a voice filtered through the violence and urged them to wait.

Harry was stunned. Both the elementals recognised the voice. _Penny?_

 _Do not attack. Our trap is set. You'll know it when you see and attack with everything you got after that._

 _Harry, Lillian, in the short time we met Penny and I were happy._ It was Nicolas _. Lillian, if you ever feel like changing your name. Know that a long way down the line, Perenelle Morgan is your aunt._

 _Goodbye._

The light and power cleared and Harry got a good look at the condition of the monster.

It was a shrouded cloak of ragged black and it was twisting pitifully on the ground. You're all dead. It's voice was grating and the humans clamped their ears shut. It was worse than chalk screeching on blackboard. **_Hahahahahaha. You pushed me!You overwhelmed me! But it's all useless! I cannot be destroyed!_**

"Evil monologue now!?" Lillian cried, tears forming in her eyes because of the terrible sound. Her ears began to bleed again and Dumbledore healed her again.

The black shroud exploded and it's dark power expanded faster than the speed of light.

Terror froze every being under its malevolent presence and all knew it was over. They had lost. Hopelessness had drowned them. Even Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore had looks of despair. The evil power was vast, it had blotted out all light and their hopes with it.

 ** _Goodbye_**.

The blanket of darkness above them began to recede. It was sucked back into its source and Harry could sense its surprise. Something had caught it unawares. The darkness swirled around the source, shrinking steadily until the visage of a giant remained. It was a huge pitch black body with slits for eyes and nothing on its face. It's limbs were long and arms even longer with claw like fingers.

The shock reflected in its eyes was unmistakable.

 _This is!_ It gasped. _The brothers spell!_

It saw two figures on opposite side standing at the apex of a highly complex polygonal runic network. The figures; a man and a woman; commonly known as Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel were ageing rapidly and their body was withering in front of their eyes.

This was always their purpose. The elemental brothers in the ancient past had used sacrificial magic to bring Evil to a kill able state. They had sacrificed dozens of humans before they perfected it and their wives served as the final sacrifice. Ignotous Peverell had recruited Nicolas Flamel and eventually Perenelle Morgan to be the sacrifices if Evil ever rose again.

They died smiling and content.

Harry was not going to let their sacrifice be in vain.

"Attack!" he shouted. The battle was now on even grounds.

Black met white and their powers clashed.

Claws tore through the ice crashing towards the exposed body but it left its own self open to attack.

A barrage of blasts from the surviving Drakons blew it away and it screamed in rage having missed Harry's neck by a whisker.

Harry was unfazed. He felt the attack coming and was ready to dodge. He felt Lillian's presence behind him and channeled magic to his feet to explosively increase his speed.

Lillian teleported beside him with timing born from hundreds of duels fought against the Drakons and together they attacked the monster again.

But it was too quick. It's hands were like whips and Lillian teleported them above, and the blasted their power into its head.

"It's getting wounded! Aim for the chest. It's body seems to be like a human now!"

 ** _You will not kill me!_**

Black threads burst out of every pour in its body and no one it's their path survived. Just like that the population of the dwarves was cut in half and they were only three Drakons remaining.

Lillian teleported back to the ground.

"We got to penetrate its skin!" Lillian cried. She was panting and had a small grin etched on her face. She was still enjoying the battle. The terror, the fear and the thrill of power was what her element was and she was one with it.

What followed was breathtaking sequence of attacks.

Harry and Lillian burst forward, wielding their elements like the weapons of mass destruction that they were. Dumbledore appeared out of no where behind the creature, his wand thrust forward, it's tip glowing gold. The last Drakons swooped down from the sides, spheres of crackling red magic pooling in their mouths and the tips of their wings. The Dwarfs launched all their remaining weapons, the sleek missiles whistling through the air.

Humans and wizards were no where to be seen. They were dead or gone. Being within miles of the creatures presence was too much for their bodies. They couldn't handle the immense power of Evil.

The impact was silent.

The white light following the impact suppressed all sound and sight. Anyone alive within the impact radius only saw white and felt the backlash of an explosion that levelled mountains and shredded the Earth.

Harry awoke in a hail of fire and ice.

His eyes fluttered open and he first felt pain. He couldn't move, he couldn't hear. "Freckles," he croaked, but he couldn't hear his own voice. He knew where he was and what had just happened and made a desperate effort to move. Agony wreaked his body and he screamed a noiseless scream.

Gasping and crying he willed the pain away and turned his head, desperately looking for Lillian. He had seen the creature counter just before they attacked and he feared it was still alive and they had to move.

Harry took deep, shuddering breaths and summoned his wand to silently cast a numbing charm on his body. He felt the pain subside and he struggled to his feet.

He had been blown all the way back to the retreat zone where the army was frantically trying to save those caught in an explosion that put a nuclear holocaust to shame.

" _Lillian_!" he shouted and he heard himself a little this time. His eyesight was coming back and he witnessed the destruction all around him first hand. In seconds he had been blown from one country side to another. He saw elves and tents behind him and heard whispers of what he knew were screams of terror.

" _Lillian_!" he screamed again looking all around him frantically, ignoring the signals his brain was sending him to rest and heal. Only Lillian consumed his senses.

"Harry!"

He turned to his nine o'clock and felt relief. She was fine. She looked a little frazzled but she was fine and she was alive.

Now he had to refocus on a war that he prayed was over. His body was reaching a limit he hadn't thought was possible.

The elves ignored their presence and focused on those caught unawares by the explosion of magic.

"Harry we won!" He heard Lillian shout with exuberance. "I just flamed to Canada and there's no trace of that monster! We fucking did it! We won!"

Her words didn't register at first.

"We won?" he repeated dumbly.

"Dumbledore survived too and so did a couple of Drakons and a few dwarves! Holy Christ Harry, the entire country is a giant arsehole in the Earth now! There's nothing left!"

She was screaming and running and finally when she was close enough she jumped him and wrapped herself around him, her lips finding his with delight and exuberance.

Harry felt a bubble burst in his gut and the happiness took over him. He returned the kiss enthusiastically, letting her tongue invade his mouth and allowed pleasure to wipe away the pain. His was still trying to digest the fact that they won.

They broke apart for air and Lillian dissolved into a bundle of giggles. "We did it!" she kept saying over and over again. "We did it!"

Harry laughed. Clearly Lillian was finding it difficult to believe as well. Was the war really over? Had the won the battle for Earth?

He never saw the blonde slam into his body and shove him out of the way.

"Wha?" Harry groaned. He recognised the figure above him. It was Luna Lovegood and her eyes were sad.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Lillian never saw it coming. Her surprise and happiness blinked to surprise and confusion in an instant.

"FRECKLES!" Harry screamed in horror.

She fell to her knees, slowly becoming aware of the dozen shadows that had pierced her body.

Lillian coughed blood and felt her vision turn dark.

" ** _Hahahahaha, you can never destroy me!_** " The Flamel's gambit had failed. Evil had surpassed the magic that defeated it millennia ago.

Threads of evil burst out of the ground, ripping through the survivors and fighters and it's body reformed in the midst of the place everyone had hoped the fighting would not reach.

Harry could only watch in horror as the threads retracted and Lillian's clothes began to turn red. Luna's intervention was forgotten and the fact that she had saved his life didn't cross his mind. The mysterious blonde had already disappeared.

"LILLIAN!" Harry was screaming and stumbling. The ground was shaking as Evil erupted from the depths of hell but Harry had heart only for Lillian and that heart was crumbling.

He reached her and immediately wrapped her in his trembling arms. "Lillian! Freckles! Look at me please! Say something. Freckles!" His voice was panicked and pleading, his eyes were wide and filled with horror and tears, breathing was painful and his mind was hurling towards a dark chasm without hope, without life.

"Harry," Lillian whispered, her eyes unfocused, but finding his green. A small smile played on her lips. "Harry I love you."

Her eyes flickered shut.

"No," Harry croaked. "No. No. No!"

A terrible scream of denial tore from the depths of his shattering heart. He had filled it with thoughts, only of her and now she was gone. The overwhelming distress he was feeling made him blind to the fatal attack flying towards him.

Dumbledore, Sirius and others ran towards Harry, shouting his name and crying out warnings but Harry was non responsive.

" _Delecto_!" screamed Dumbledore, slashing his wand through the air desperately. He knew Harry was their only hope and they could not let him die.

The attack was blasted out of its path and a scream of rage reverberated through every molecule of air.

"It's aiming for us now Dumbledore!" Sirius cried in panic. There was no one but Dumbledore and Harry now, who could stand up to the power. Sirius and all the terror struck wizards and witches put up an inconsequential shield.

Dumbledore's eyes were blazing with power and with a flourish he summoned a physical shield around every person in range and stopped the attack in its track. The power put into the shield was tremendous and for a moment Dumbledore felt his body go into mild shock and he was rendered immobile and drained.

He had saved his friends but Harry was now unprotected. The move by Evil was calculated and a massive column of its terrible power was falling from the heavens, directly above Harry.

None of this affected Harry as he slowly withdrew his blood soaked hands from Lillian's body. The images of the wizards, the Drakons and all the other species that had come into this final battle with a being that wanted to wipe out their existence, melted out of his vision. Darkness engulfed his entire existence and the only thing he could see was Lillian; Lillian lying at his feet, dead, without a sign of life in her open eyes. Those glassy, empty eyes staring at him through a desert of darkness as he slowly got to his feet.

Dozens of voices were screaming, shouting his name desperately, and yelling at him to get out of the way of the column of magic that was descending on him.

But Harry heard nothing. He saw nothing. It a brief instant of time, Harry's heart had been broken into a million shards of ice that pierced his soul, tearing and ripping their way excruciatingly through the terrible agonising darkness that had fallen upon him.

A dull beat echoed in his head and a sense of weightlessness entered his body. He could hear a noise, an odd music that was instilling an envelope of acceptance around the void where his heart once was.

It felt so dark and reassuring at the same time. It was showing him a direction in the darkness, the only direction that he capable of seeing after the only woman he could ever love was killed right in front of him and he had been incapable of saving her.

He closed his eyes and turned around, feeling more at peace that he had ever felt in his life.

Thousands of eyes watched terrified and hopelessly as the evil magic crash into Harry and he disappeared in an explosion of magic that was fatal to him. A piercing victorious screech of noise resounded through the entire battle field as it pumped the devastating magic that took away Lillian thundered into Harry in exponential quantities.

The magic receded and eyes braced to find the dead body of Harry Potter and the annihilation that was soon to follow. But what they didn't expect to see a humanoid being, completely made of pure white ice, with green emeralds for eyes that had a crackling silver light shining inside the crystals.

Harry Potter had transcended into something more.

He had become the very thing that the creature had feared and that fear had suddenly been realised in its beating black heart. The elemental had blocked its force like it was nothing and he was radiating such power that all the beings around him were being suffocated under its power. The battle had stopped and evil began to suck all it's magic around its heart. He took it all back into his magic and strengthened its magic to the greatest potential it was capable of reaching. A potential that had kept the world locked in an endless war since the creation of the world. It turned itself into a power that was capable of unleashing a magic that could eviscerate half the planet and it aimed that power at the unimaginable being that Harry Potter had become.

The survivors of this Armageddon looked at the being and at the creature, feeling the life being squeezed out of them under the clashing powers of the transcendent and the creature.

Even Dumbledore was on his knees, gasping for air.

The full power of evil was launched at Harry and Harry, protecting the body that had been connected to his soul, bent his knees and with a gentle push flew into the path of the magic, breaking the sound barrier without causing any damage behind it, nor leaving any trace of sound itself.

He pierced through the layers of magic and wards that protected the creature's heart and then he pierced through that heart, ripped through the entire black mass of the creature and lightly landed on his feet on the other side.

The suffocating magic disappeared and the entire world became silent.

Three seconds later, the black mass shuddered and began to collapse into itself. Black thunder crashed into the red sky out of the body and the ground was quaking fiercely.

The intensity of the screaming voice and the quaking began to go down and the race that was born out of the brighter side of the coin, stood back on their feet. The darkness was disappearing and a heart, black in colour with a large hole torn through its centre, lay flopping on the ground, disappearing out of existence.

The logical conclusion was suppressed by disbelief. A span of ten seconds had overwhelmed all thought and those that were still alive and standing knew what had just happened but they just could not believe it nor voice their obvious thoughts for fear of falling into another pit of despair.

But then someone summoned the courage everyone else was lacking and screamed at the top of his lungs, "We've won! It's over, we've won, we've won!"

This time the ground quaked with the sound of joy and ecstatic emotions overflowed. They had seen it happen. They still couldn't believe their eyes. But they couldn't deny the truth.

They had won. Harry had won. Humanity had won!

Harry gently landed far away, tears glistening against his cheeks.


	62. Part 2 - Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Goodbye**

The ice cracked and slowly began to fall apart, bringing Harry back to his human form. He showed no emotion. His eyes were emotional voids.

He looked at his fist and opened it impassively, letting the piece of heart he had torn fall to the ground.

It twisted and writhed and disgustingly morphed into a ugly man. It was a snake like Voldemort. "You! You!" he moaned piteously. "How!"

"Is this the part where you offer me wishes and boons?" Harry asked softly. He could feel the tremendous power slip away from his grasp bit by bit.

Voldemort looked up and tried to crawl away but Harry calmly lifted his feet and kicked him down. "Come on, say it. Tell me you can bring her back."

"I can! Let me live! I can give you all that you desire! I can..."

Harry reformed his hand into a double edged sword and cut the creatures head off.

The desperate beggars look was forever etched on the face of Voldemort.

"You did it," said another voice. A voice Harry recognised with ease and a voice that summoned his rage.

His hand extended and caught Luna by the neck. He squeezed and brought her too his face. "You!" he snarled. "You let her die! You did this!"

"I-it was the only way you could get the power you needed," Luna choked.

Harry didn't care. He was going to kill her.

"Before you kill me maybe you should go back to the battle field," she said. She put all her power into prying his fingers off her neck but his power to too strong. She couldn't measure up to him.

"You didn't even fight, you don't deserve to live."

"She's still alive!" Luna gasped. If he kept his grip any longer, she really was going to die.

Harry froze. "What did you say?"

"Go see for yourself."

Harry didn't wait. He dropped Luna and apparated.

The battle ground was a wreak and the elves were sending all the injured back to Hogwarts.

Harry's eyes roved madly, looking for a familiar face when he spotted Sirius being treated. He flashed right in front of him and grabbed his robes. "Where is she!" Harry demanded.

"Harry wait," Sirius said sadly.

"Tell me now Sirius!"

Sirius sighed and looked around at all the death and destruction around him. "Hogwarts," he said dully, knowing Harry was not going like what he saw.

-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Hogwarts - 3 days later.**

"We've done everything that we can Master Potter," the elf said comfortingly looking into Harry's stoic face. "She's alive only because of our magic but she is quite sadly dead."

Harry's jaws clenched. "What is that supposed to mean?" he choked out.

"The black magic pierced her internal organs. She was already dying when we began treatment and the only thing that we can do is prevent her from crossing over. We cannot bring her back. Her lungs, liver, trachea, hamstrings, stomach; all have been pierced by that black magic and they have permanently been destroyed."

"So bloody replace them!"

"We did. The replacement suffered the same fate. The parts of her touched by that magic have been fatally cursed."

Harry's jaws trembled. Grief was overcoming him. "You managed to keep her alive. That means you can save her."

"Let her go, Master Potter. She's already dead."

Harry caught hold of the elf's robes and slammed him into the wall. "She is not fucking dead! Do you understand me?!"

The elf gently pried open Harry's fist and wrapped his hands around the man's neck and patted his back soothingly. He whispered the words of a song of love and loss and Harry began to cry into his chest. His body was trembling and his heart was being crushed by grief and pain.

"She's not going to die," Harry said again, pulling himself together and drying his eyes. "She's not going to die," he repeated, "And don't you dare let her cross over to the other side or else I will burn this world to the ground."

It wasn't an idle threat.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Later that night he was back in the hospital wing standing over her pale and cold body, stroking her cheeks lovingly.

The room was empty and he was alone with her for an hour until the shadow of a man appeared at the door. It was Sirius.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked him, leaning against the door, not coming inside.

Harry replied softly after a while. "No, I'm not."

"Do you want me to stay with her? You need to rest Harry."

Harry ignored the question and the ridiculous suggestion that he rest.

"Do you know how many prophecies were there, fixing my fate before I was born?" He didn't wait for Sirius to reply. "Almost ten that I know of and the first one was made millennia ago. I wonder if they also knew that my fate was not only to save their ridiculous world but also to lose everything that mattered to me while everyone else got to keep it all."

"That's not true, Harry."

Harry scoffed. "Do you know what people have been saying to me that past couple of days, Sirius?"

"No."

Harry smiled bitterly. "You're just fifteen," he whispered mockingly. "You have your whole life ahead of you. You'll get over it. You'll find someone, life is long. You lost someone close to you, I know how it feels, and it'll pass."

Harry scoffed. "They all mean well. Some of them cried, most of them hugged me when they said these things and I can see how they pity me and feel grateful and thankful for what I did to save them all. What we did to save them."

Sirius listened silently, not moving from the door, his face hidden by the shadows.

"But none of them understand what I feel. They throw these numbers at me that have no meaning. They say I'm fifteen? I feel like it's been a hundred years since I came to Hogwarts. I feel like it's been a hundred years since I was born with the shadow of death. A hundred years since I grew up with monsters. A hundred years since I found this castle of magic. A hundred years….."

Harry choked on his voice and he clenched his eyes as a wave of grief clenched his heart again.

"A hundred years since I found love. I remember every second that we spent together, every word that I said to her and she to me. I have memories that span a hundred years of life with her and now…. Now she's gone and all I hear is bullshit advice, telling me to move on."

"They don't know what she meant to me and they're telling me to move on and look forward to the future because on paper I'm fifteen fucking years old."

"Harry," Sirius whispered, feeling terrible that there was nothing he could do to ease the pain Harry was feeling.

"Without her, I feel like there's nothing in the future but a black empty vacuum to keep looking through."

Harry turned around and looked at Sirius's silhouette with miserable red eyes, showing the depths of his grief and anguish. "She can't die Sirius, she just can't. There has to be a way to save her."

"All life ends, Harry, some sooner than most. You've spent an eternity with her; do you think she'd want to see you keep her alive like this?"

"No she wouldn't," Harry said sadly. "She would burn my balls to a crisp if she saw me keeping her alive like this."

Sirius laughed but Harry wasn't being funny. He was saying it like it was.

"And after she'd burn by balls I'd still hold on to her because she still has a chance. She's not dead yet and until you take away all the fight in me, I will not let them allow her to die. As long as that minuscule particle of light is there in my vision, I will not let her die when she could have a chance."

"I'm not trying to fight you Harry," Sirius said gently. "I'm just…"

"Just what? Convincing me to let go?" Harry glared dangerously. "I will never let her go."

"I'm just trying to show you there's still a life to be had."

Harry sighed. "Stay with her and hold her hand. I'm going out and I want to be alone."

"Harry!" Sirius protested but Harry just shoved him aside and walked into the darkness of the castle to the lake.

He felt like he just walked into a blanket of cool air and a light atmosphere when he walked through the entrance doors and into the grounds. It was a new moon night and the outside world was completely dark. It suited Harry just fine and he didn't need to see to know where he was going. With practiced movements, he reached the banks of the lake and sat on his knees, resting on calves, at the edge of the lake. The water rippled around his knees with the sound of gentle churning at times and Harry took a deep breath of the peace around him.

He closed mind and blankly stared into the darkness with the sound of the lake to accompany him. A little while later, the sounds of insects joined in but the darkness persisted.

An hour passed by in the same state of stillness and a dot of light popped into the sky some distance away. Harry's eyes immediately spotted the speck of light and he tracked its movement in the sky and watched it grow larger and larger until he was able to hear the flapping of wings with the lantern of light.

It was an owl and with a powerful stroke of its wings, it slowed down and landed with a thump in front of Harry. A lantern was clenched in its claws and it dropped it a little to the left before it touched ground.

Harry stared at the strange behaviour in bewilderment.

The owl looked at him in the eye, hooted and ruffled its feathers. Harry blinked, trying to understand what this owl was saying and then he noticed the letter that was attached to the lantern.

"Huh," he said.

He reached out and removed the letter from the lantern and looked at the name under the light. It was his.

Curiosity filled him and he quickly tore the top and removed a sheet of paper, not parchment. " _Dear Harry,"_ it was written.

 _Sometimes sacrifice comes with reward. Your life was never yours but now and forever, it is._

 _With the best wishes for you future,_

 _Penelope and Nicolas Flamel._

The moment Harry finished reading the letter, a small package dropped out of the thin paper. Harry removed the paper covering and found a box with another folded paper attached to it.

Harry opened it and found a key attached to the top of the paper. _This is the key to the knowledge we have collected over the centuries._ Harry held his breath and opened the box and found a stone at the bottom. A black cube with white runes etched into all its sides and looked like it was made of onyx.

Harry's world suddenly brightened up and blazed with light when he recognised what that cube was.

Faint light began to encroach the domain of darkness. Black gave way to blue as the fiery star of hope rose from the east.

The stone of eternal life smiled at Harry and tears rolled down his cheek.

Harry choked back a sob of joy and looked up at the heavens. His heart was beating painfully but he didn't care. It was a pain he would embrace for the rest of his life.

"Thank you," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I... I hope we can meet again Penny, Nicolas. Thank you for everything."

He took a moment to calm his overwhelming emotions and rose to his feet shakily and wiped the tears that shone bright in the dawn.

A new beginning had come.

 ** _~The End~_**


	63. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Calling the world changed was akin to calling a dog a cat. Cats hissed, dogs barked. Cats purred. Dogs crooned. The past was war, the future was peace.

It bored Harry Potter, Lord of the Elements, Saviour of Humanity.

He was a man of average height. Built like a chiseled rock. Had messy jet black hair contrasting his pale skin and dark green eyes that had a boundless depth. His face looked like it was cut from diamond and people knew of his coming when the wind began to bite and snow began to fall.

But those walking past him or along side him didn't give him a second glance. They had a vague understanding of what the Lords of the Elements looked like. All they knew was their coming was to be feared, for their coming meant the blade of justice was to be swung.

At least. Thats what the stories said.

Harry Potter wrapped his coat around him tighter, imitating those around him as they shivered as he walked past. His destination was right in front of him and he didn't want suspicious looks coming his way. People did look at him curiously when they realised he was the only one wearing a coat.

There was a palpable tension in the air. It was summer and it was snowing. Everyone knew the stories. When the seasons clashed, doom was right round the corner.

Or so the stories said. But one thing all knew to be true. Crime, injustice and greed were dealt swiftly by the forces unknown. No one escaped their sight and humans had nothing to fear if they didn't do wrong. In fact no one even knew the last time crime and injustice had occurred in their wonderful world.

Children were told the scary stories. Adults knew the heroic stories.

Harry Potter grimaced as he passed by a bookstore and saw the 'Elemental Fairy tale' in leather bound displayed on a pedestal.

If only they knew the truth he thought with a wry grin.

The Queen of the Underworld was a name only known to the Underworld; Oath sworn to secrecy and destined to agony.

The creature known as Evil was long defeated but it's corruption could never be banished. It was an impossible task. A task that had suppressed itself for decades after the Last War before rearing its ugly head again.

That was when the Elementals changed from Heroes to Horrors. Injustice was not tolerated. Hate was crushed and fear kept crime away.

It took another decade for the Elementals to withdraw from the world and act from the shadows.

It took centuries for their names to fade into legend and their deeds into fairy tales.

Those that did wrong were swept into the underworld and those who lived in the light were blissful in their ignorance.

Only the heads of Government knew of their existence and it was one of those Heads Harry was on his way to meet.

"Platform to the castle rising in 20 seconds!" cried out a shrill feminine voice. "19 seconds people!"

Harry hurried forward and tightened his grip on his element. It would certainly give him away if it started snowing inside the castle.

The effect was instant.

The warmth of summer rushed into the winds and the sun shone brighter.

"Was it him papa?" a child asked her father.

The man, cherry faced with a round stomach, chuckled. "He's long dead love," the man said, his voice soft and kind. "Only his legacy remains."

The man caught Harry staring and chuckled. "Kids huh."

Harry smiled and turned his gaze towards the little girl. "Maybe it was him," he joked. "Have you been naughty?"

The girls eyes widened and she turned to her father aghast. "Papa!"

"He's only joking sweetie! He's only joking!"

Harry smiled apologetically and turned away while the father consoled his daughter.

"Going up!" the feminine voice barked and the four hundred square foot platform began to rise.

Harry sighed as he got a good look at London.

"Beautiful isn't it?" A pretty brunette smiled at him as his eyes soaked in the city.

Marble white streets illuminated by floating white balls of light. Bushes and trees were interspaced among stone masonry, and as they rose higher, giant floating buildings shaped like crystals hung lazily and spun slowly about their axis.

All around him, platforms rose and glided through the air to their respective destinations. Each platform was a design of the Magical Science Academy founded a long time ago by a man Harry knew as Croaker.

The controllers were non magical and magical. The distinction between the two was long forgotten when it was discovered that magic could be learned and used by anyone.

"Docking!"

The platform swerved and made its way to the entrance to the castle of London. A sprawling castle that shone gold under the light of the setting sun. Its twisting towers cast long shadows on the clouds its floated amongst and its smooth aged white walls had a touch of mystique that made all eyes widen in wonder once they gazed upon it.

It was a castle made for Kings and Queens and it was the home Harry had made for his love and named it the Phoenix Throne 500 years ago. Lillian was then known as the Phoenix Queen before her untimely death at the hands of the Witch Queen.

Harry knew the Witch Queen by another name. Luna had a flair for dramatics and immortality had way of making creativity seem dangerous.

Of course, the name Phoenix Queen was mysteriously forgotten by the world after Lillian had decided to become the Queen of the Underworld. He wondered what Queen she would want to be next.

"Do you intend to get off or are you going to stare at her all day?" barked the controller.

Harry blinked.

Immortality was also accompanied with a poor memory and day dreaming was a common side effect.

"Hello?"

"I apologise," Harry said smoothly and gracefully stepped off the platform and on the castle courtyard.

The brunette he was unknowingly staring at turned towards him and smiled. "Are you here for the ceremony?"

"What ceremony?" Harry asked absently. His eyes roamed from her head to her toe and his expression turned roguish. She was a pretty one.

"The new Prime Minister's!" the brunette said, shocked that he didn't know.

"Oh right," Harry said startled. He had let himself get lost in his thoughts again and he gave himself a mental shake. He was getting old.

"I'm Barbara by the way."

"Charmed," Harry said and before Barbara knew it, her hand was resting in his and he gently kissed her knuckles.

She giggled and blushed. "Oh my," she gasped.

Harry grinned and she giggled some more. Harry enjoyed flirting with young pretty girls. He found it to be soothing and it made him feel young rather than look young. After all, after 723 years of living, things did tend to get a bit boring.

A gong sounded through the castle and a holographic image rose above the courtyard.

Harry sighed. He had a meeting to attend to.

Barbara's arm snaked around his and her eyes gleamed in excitement. "It's starting!" She wasn't the only one who had come up to the palace to see the ceremony. The change of Government was always followed by fanfare and parties.

Harry rose an eyebrow the moment the arm clutched onto his. The magic that unconsciously leaked out of him had an interesting effect on women. Harry slipped his arm out and Barbara jumped. She hadn't realised what she had done and blushed.

"I do have to go," Harry said. "It was nice meeting you."

"Wait! You didn't tell me your name. Do you want to dance with me when the party starts?"

Harry laughed. A rich and amused laugh. "I will if I find you."

Barbara blinked and he was gone. Only a slight chill remained.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Prime Minister Gordon glowed with pride and triumph. It had been a hard fought election but he had won and Prime Minister Elizabeth Granger was to formally pass the baton to him in the Prime Minister's office.

He stepped into the massive room, coveted by all politicians and let a smug grin grow on his face. It was time for the secrets to be handed over and he was quite excited about it.

Neither of them expected to see a man lounging in the minister's chair with his feet resting on the table.

Gordon gasped and Granger sighed.

"G-guards!" Gordon shouted.

No one came.

"The room has been sealed and silenced boy," Harry said, curiously observing a magic ball on the table. "My name is Harry Potter and as per our agreement I'm here to greet you."

Gordon's eyes widened. Only one child had been named Harry Potter. The common name had been become uncommon after the Last War. Everybody knew what the fairy-tales said about Harry Potter. He turned towards Granger with incredulity.

"Meet the ruler of the world Gordon. Harry Potter is real. He is alive and he is the law."

"Now come on Lizzie," Harry protested. "You know I stay out of politics as much as possible!"

"Except when that crazy woman Luna decides to meddle or when that other crazy woman you call wife decides to mingle."

"How's your mother?" Harry asked, avoiding slipping down a dangerous road. Luna and Lillian in the same sentence were never good for his health.

"Dead."

"About time."

"Will someone please explain to me what the bloody hell is going on?!" Gordon shouted.

Harry glanced at the man. "Is he one of Malfoy's?"

"He is."

"Full name?"

"Draconius Gordon Malfoy."

"Good grief. Were your parents on crack when they named you?" Harry said dryly.

Gordon spluttered.

Harry stood up. He walked over to Elizabeth and gave her a hug. The cold expression melted from her face and she returned he gesture with warmth.

"Is Queen Potter is still designing her underground colosseum?"

"Not yet. She's still in two minds about having real animals or conjured animals. She's been poring over Roman texts to make her colosseum as authentic as possible."

Elizabeth grimaced. "I still say you should leave the serving of justice to us."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to both of you about."

Harry went and sat back in the prime ministers chair and motioned for the other two to join him at the table.

Elizabeth did so with ease and Gordon with caution.

"Gordon, if you haven't realised already. I am the Lord of the Elements." Harry's voice rang out with power and thin bands of sliver enclosed his pupils. "You are taking on a great responsibility and even a hint of corruption and injustice will lead you to the colosseum of hell.

"The colosseum is where my wife deals with her occasional outbursts of temper and violence After all, a fire elemental cannot keep the fire contained for long periods of time. Not many people come out alive and those who do are sent… well lets just say it depends on their state of mind."

Gordon started sweating despite the chill and Elizabeth fondly remember how panicked and terrified she was when she learnt he was real.

"Then there is Luna Lovegood. I believe she calls herself the 'Shaman of the East' now and she likes to play games. Immortals do have a way of making life difficult for mortals and if she does make Britain her playground you press the green button under your desk. Do you understand?"

Gordon gulped and nodded.

"If you need to reach me, you tell the portrait about the door you need to see me urgently."

Gordon glanced back and saw a life sized portrait of the most famous Hogwarts headmaster; Albus Dumbledore. The wizened old man smiled and waved. Gordon waved back. Albus Dumbledore was a man everyone knew to be real. He had died at the ripe old age of 343 and was the man who revolutionised magical and non magical education.

"Any questions?"

"I thought you were dead!" Gordon blurted out.

Harry shook his head wryly. "Do I look dead?"

"How do I know you are who you say you are? How can I be sure you're the good guy and not the bad?!"

Harry looked at Elizabeth. "Should I or should you?"

"We don't have a choice," Ex Prime Minister Granger said heavily. "But regardless of whether he is good or bad, the world has been at peace for 700 years. I feel that's all the proof you need."

Gordon's mind was spinning.

"Well this has been lovely," Harry announced, standing up suddenly. "Lizzie can explain the finer details. I have things to do."

"Good riddance," Granger muttered under her breath.

Harry rolled his eyes and then he was gone. Only a chill remained.

Harry reappeared on a remote coast of Marseille and was welcomed by the taste of salty winds and the sound of ripples washing through sand.

It was night and the town behind him was aglow with soft light. If London was sitting in the future, Marseille had remained unchanged. Except magic had taken firm root in the city and every time Harry came to the town, he was inexplicably reminded of how Diagon Alley once was.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting memories move through his mind like slow undersea currents.

He was proud of his grand something daughter. She was just one of the many kids he had conceived. His legacy would go on. For the first hundred years Harry and Lillian hadn't so much as looked at anyone else in lust or desire. Then they had started to get bored and things began to change. They called that period the decade of orgasms. There wasn't anything that they hadn't tried. They had lain together, with other women, with other men, with men and women together and then some more!

Harry chuckled and walked to the hidden entrance.

The waves crashed into the coast but not a single drop of water touched Harry as he walked into the ocean towards a seemingly insignificant rock jutting out some 500 metres in.

Luna was the only one Lillian staunchly refused to let Harry so much as touch inappropriately. Luna wanted him and to Lillian, _that_ made all the difference in the world.

Even after 700 years, Luna hadn't given up and Lillian hadn't given in.

Harry shuddered when he remembered the time both of the woman had come to blows. He was glad it was in Siberia. No one had questioned the strange Earthquakes that had rumbled through Russia.

The rock parted for him like curtains and light assaulted Harry.

The blindness cleared and a deep caravan was revealed. Harry was on the ledge on the top and another step he would fall in. The roof was made entirely of fire.

Harry grimaced as sweat began to form on his neck and he lowered his body temperature and then jumped into the massive hole.

He idly wrapped magic around him and gently floated down into the pit of hell. The place where the worst of humanity was made to suffer pain and humiliation.

The screams and cheering grew louder and louder as we went deeper and balls of fire floated haphazardly to ensure there was an over abundance of light and heat.

At the bottom was a ring of men and women and in between were two men grappling and fighting with desperation. There could only be one winner.

Harry recognised one of the men as the the man who had murdered his family and gone on a killing spree in the local school. It had taken more than a few memory charms to make the incident go away and maintain the illusion of peace.

Behind the ring of people, on a raised platform, sat the Queen. She was dressed in a light green full length silk dress that dipped provocatively between her breasts and fit snugly around her body. A linked silver chain hung loosely around her hips and a pearl necklace was draped around her pale neck. Her hair was black as night and smooth as the dress she wore. Her legs were regally crossed, revealed gold anklets above her bare feet and her she was tapping her fingers impatiently on her golden throne.

She was bored, Harry knew.

Blue eyes rose to meet his descent and a smile cracked the mask of boredom. Even after centuries, the sight of her made his heart swell.

Harry glided beside her and conjured an equally magnificent throne and sat down.

He leaned across and lightly pecked Lillian Mary Austin on her lips.

"How were the meetings?" she asked. Her voice was soft yet strong. Her tone… bored.

"Everything is in order," Harry said. "We won't be missed."

Lillian smiled and her eyes gleamed. "And what about Luna?"

Harry went on guard. "She's solved the puzzle," he said lightly. "We can leave anytime we want."

Lillian stood up abruptly and clapped her hands once.

Immediately everyone went silent. The fighting stopped and breaths were held. Were they to live or were they to die?

"Nathaniel will take care of you from today. Good bye."

That said she disappeared with the barest hint of a flash of fire and with her departure darkness plunged into the hole.

Harry sighed and brought to existence a ball of blue light with a twitch of his finger.

Fear greeted him and Harry smiled darkly. "Freckles has given up on you," he said and terrified faces backed away.

Harry let them back away until they hit the stone walls.

"I let her play to her hearts content to contain her bloodlust but now she's moved on." Harry's eyes glowed, revealing the bloodlust he had so ably kept contained and the ground began to shake.

"No.

"No!

"NOOO!"

Harry banished the blood on his pants before shimmered out of existence. Only a chill and death remained behind.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

He reappeared in the midst of what used to be the stonehenge. Only now there were about a hundred wards around the area and a 50 metre tall square tower in the centre in place of what used to be the stonehenge.

Lillian and Luna were there. Lillian coolly ignoring Luna and Luna humming dreamily, without a care in the world.

Harry saw through the facade. Luna was eagerly waiting for Lillian to say something… anything. Luna loved confrontations just as much as Lillian.

Harry cursed under his breath. The words 'women forgive but never forget' did have some truth to it after all. Harry barely remembered anything that happened more than a hundred years ago unless it was monumental and important.

"Harry!" cried Luna, in her musical voice. She hadn't changed a bit. She still looked fourteen, had radish shaped ear rings and pale blonde hair that reached her ankles. Her eyes on the other hand had an ageless depth, similar to his and Lillian's. "I finally did it," she exclaimed. "It was all really a question about listening to the Humdingers you see. They guided me to all the Snorkacks and after that it was a matter of figuring their age," she explained. "You see the youngest defers to the middle aged and the oldest defer to the youngest. It's all very…."

"That's great child," Lillian interrupted. "Now do you mind telling us how it works?"

Luna's lips tightened and a murderous intent radiated out from her.

Lillian smirked.

"Seven hundred years past and you still can't get along," Harry grumbled. "Anyway, out with it Luna. Can we travel without upsetting the balance?"

Luna skipped to Harry and slipped her arm around his waist. "Let me show you," she breathed softly.

Harry calmly slipped out of the grip and glared sharply at Lillian. He didn't not want unwanted magical activity to set of the dimensional portal. Especially one of this magnitude. All the portals around the world, gathered together and placed in an order that was only understood by the one who was affected by them. Luna knew what she was doing even though it seemed very unlikely.

Luna led them to the edge of the black portal stones. Each ripped out of a part of the world.

Two Harry recognised as those from the Flamel cave and Hogwarts.

Luna took a deep breath and Harry felt the magic that always made the hairs on his arm stand uneasily. It was powerful and it was volatile. Luna summoned her powers quite like how Harry and Lillian summoned theirs. It was from another dimension.

Luna pointed her wand at the bottom of the joint and a narrow gap was revealed.

"Inside," she directed firmly. Her voice was sharp and no longer musical.

The three walked into the darkness and Harry felt a thick pressure settle between his forehead. It was a strange magical power radiating within the square enclosure.

Luna took another deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Are you sure you want to do this? It's possible things might go wrong."

Lillian nodded impatiently. "We've been through the hole before _Child_."

"Have you said goodbye to your son?"

Lillian hissed and Harry grimaced. He knew Luna said that just to provoke Lillian. Lillian hadn't quite forgiven Luna for sleeping with him even though he was thirty five at the time and quite capable of taking his own decisions.

Harry worried Nathaniel might have a thing for fourteen year old girls at the time but one look into Luna's ageless eyes made him reconsider immediately. Those eyes did not belong on a fourteen year old and that hip swaying walk definitely didn't either!

"He knows of our plans Luna. He can take care of himself and the world too, if he's in the mood."

Lillian frowned. "Maybe we should postpone," she said biting her lips with worry. "Or at least give him the philosophers stone."

"Freckles, he's a hundred and seven years old! He's the headmaster of Hogwarts and our son! I'm sure we've taught him well enough to be responsible." Nathaniel was the only one they have conceived together. Lillian had nearly destroyed a continent during labour and crushed hundreds of criminals imprisoned in the Underworld to pulp during her mood swings. They had wisely decided against having kids there after natural calamity.

"He's a wind elemental Harry," Lillian bit back. "You know how hasty he can be!"

Lillian's shifts between cold hearted Queen to jealous wife to worried mother always made Harry fall in love with her all over again. She had all the colours of emotions unlike any other human alive. Luna was pale compared to her brightness.

"Says the fire elemental," Luna muttered.

Lillian's eyes flared gold.

"Activate the thing already Luna!" Harry said quickly and urgently.

Luna tapped her wand on the rune of dissolution and everything turned white.

A new adventure had begun.


End file.
